The Masquerade
by BitterSweet LoveRott
Summary: Elaine, Elena's cousin who has been spending her summer vacation in Mystic Falls, has been invited to a masquerade held by the mayor's wife, Carol Lockwood. In a scale of Elena to Katherine, her goodness is rated a 5. That's till' he met Damon Salvatore.
1. Introduction

**Summary**: Elaine, Elena's cousin who has been spending her summer in Mystic Falls, knows nothing about Elena's involvement with vampires. Not only was she ignorant about that, but she happens to have been invited by Carol Lockwood, the Mayor's wife, to attend an unexpectedly scheduled Masquerade Ball in the plaza during a night of the Friday the 13th. She got surprised when she puts all the puzzle pieces together, and meets the very _infamous_ Damon Salvatore.

She's the complete and total opposite of Elena, but their physicality is the same. Elena has described her goodness, on a scale of goody-two-shoes Elena to evil-psychopath Katherine that she was in the middle, a good-psychopath Elaine.

What would happen if Damon and Elaine meet for the first time? Will Elaine do what Elena warned her to, or will she follow her instincts?

_He's not going to stop until he gets her._

_He's a predator Elena, and once she gets on his crosshairs,_

_He'll chase her until she's cornered,_

_And then… We might not know what would happen next. _


	2. Chapter 1: Introducing My Cousin

**Chapter 1: **Introducing My Cousin

**Elena's POV**

"A masquerade tonight, at the plaza ballroom? What the hell! Isn't that a little too, um I don't know, unanticipated?" Elaine asked as I put my bag down on the couch, sighing. "They announced that when? Just outside when they caught you driving home from school? It's Friday the 13th, and there will be a full moon tonight. I'm not _that_ superstitious, but I'm assuming that vampires, witches and werewolves usually go out tonight." She rolled her eyes and tapped her fingers on the coffee table. Then I felt a sudden shift of the air. I stiffened as she mentioned something I didn't know she'd really figure out. Maybe it was all the times I took her to meet Stefan, or maybe Bonnie. My wide eyes blinked in such succession and disbelief.

"Kidding, you know sometimes Elena you take things a little too seriously. As if vampires, werewolves and witches really do exist. We don't live in a fairytale land. Even if they do exist, wouldn't I already know it? Next thing you'd know," She stifled a giggle as I suddenly got real and took a breath. Why would I even think that she would know? Stefan, Bonnie and I hide it so well, that sometimes, I actually forget that they're not normal humans just like me. "Stefan's secretly a vampire and Bonnie's a witch." And she laughed under her breath.

"You have _no_ idea." I muttered under my breath as I sat beside her, and she looked at me with the '_what'_ expression someone gives to the other person when they knew they said something yet they weren't paying attention enough to hear it. I just murmured the usual reply of _'never mind'_ and she stood up and began walking away. "Where are you going?" I couldn't stand the curiosity so I asked.

"Upstairs, I have to prepare for the night's main event." She smiled menacingly and waggled her eyebrows. _That's something a little too familiar_, I thought to myself. That action just reminded me a little bit of my boyfriend's devilishly annoying and irritating older brother, Damon. I widened my eyes and raised my eyebrows at her. I stared at her eye to eye and began asking her a question mentally. _I thought you didn't want to go? _That's how the two of us usually communicate. "I didn't say I didn't want to go. I just said _'isn't it a little too unanticipated'_? I never said anything about not going." She sighed and clucked her tongue back and forth. "You know Elena, twisting words is as easy as one… two… three…" She added, gave a wink and headed for the stairs. Isn't it weird that for the fact that she hasn't even met Damon, she already acts like him?

I sighed and lay on the couch, closing my eyes. I thought about everything, literally, _everything_. Elaine Gilbert, my cousin who was 13 days older than me, lived with us since the day she turned 12. We were like sisters, and she was everything I physically am. She's the spitting image of me and I was the spitting image of her. We both have the same chestnut brown hair, light brown eyes, narrow pink lips, heart shaped face, tan skin tone, and everything else. If we were to walk the streets together, hand in hand, people would think we're actually sisters and identical twins. We couldn't explain the genes, but if it were possible for me to look like Katherine, I think it would be possible for us to share the same physical traits.

We might be physically the same, but we're absolutely mentally, socially and spiritually _different_. I'm Jewish, and she's a Christian. We're both as sociable as each other is, but she would be more likely to dress up like Lady Gaga and walk through Mystic Falls. I'm definitely a lot more rational than she is, and I would be able to think a lot more when it comes to problems, but she's better at Spanish, English, Science and History than me. You could say that she's better at academics, and music, being able to play the basic four instruments of Guitar, Drums, Piano and Bass. I could get a hold of my temper more, but when it comes to hard times, she's good at translating her emotions and turning it into poetry and music. It's really beautiful. So if you were to define how good she is from goody-two-shoes Elena, to evil-psychopath Katherine, she's in the middle, the good-psychopath Elaine.

I sighed and sat up. I headed upstairs and went to the guestroom where Elaine was staying. I was beginning to wonder what Elaine could wear for tonight, when she's just visiting here. It would really be weird if she were to pack a heavy masquerade ball gown in her suitcase, and a mask, and yet she was here getting ready for something she wasn't even prepared for. I'm guessing, like the hundreds of people invited to this party, she'd be renting something from the downtown dress shop. Well, she's really good at pulling stuff out from disasters; I think she could pull this one off.

I sat down on the bed and as soon as my body made contact with it, something fell and made a low thud on the floor. I looked and it was a red and black velvet covered notebook. Could it be that Elaine kept a journal? I resisted the urge to see for myself what it feels like to be inside her head, but I realized what it felt like when I lost my journal and had thoughts that someone might know about my deepest darkest secrets. I picked it up and put it under her pillow. It wasn't long till' I heard the door open and it was Elaine in her black tank top and shorts, her hair was messed up and wet.

"Wow, you look…" I muttered as I studied her and her eyes flickered at me while she chuckled.

"Beautiful? Dashing? Sexy?" And there goes her head. I laughed with her and continued.

"Wet. I was going to ask you what you were going to wear for tonight, and it seemed like you don't have anything appropriate for the…"

"I'm going to have to stop you there, Elena. Yes, I know I'm a little bit _dress-less_, but I think I could manage to find something to wear in Mystic Falls. I mean, the party doesn't start till' 7 and it's only a quarter to 4. I have more than 3 hours to go through this small town and find something perfect for me. I was also going to ask you if you wanted to come with, but I was thinking that you wanted to be with Stefan as you looked for yours. And I'm a big girl, I think I could do it all by myself, so thank you anyways." She said as she began putting a robe on. I smiled weakly at her, stood up and gave her a hug.

"You know, besides the fact that you're a lot meaner than me, you're a really nice girl. I'm beginning to forget about the times we used to hang out and play here in Mystic Falls. And if you want to, I'll give you a list of the 10 best dress rentals here, so that you could have your pick."

"That's nice, thank you." She smiled and I began to turn around to walk away, till' she called my name again. "I'm looking forward for tonight. I'm wondering what man would step up and dance with me." She added and gave a smirk and a wink. I stepped out of the room and closed the door behind me. I leaned against the wall and sighed.

Then it made me drift to the thought of how she just acted a while ago, on how she waggled her eyebrows, gave a devilishly _all-too-familiar_ smirk and a wink that would just say _Damon Salvatore_. Oh no, Elaine was far too prone to meeting dangerous men whom she usually ends up kissing before the night ends, and now she was in the same town with Damon. After the 3 weeks of trying to hide Elaine from Damon's clutching hands, the time that I dread is coming alive right before my eyes tonight. What if the two met, and what if Elaine figured out _everything_? How could I even warn her about Damon when I can't even tell her the reason why she should be careful? I was thinking of telling her to not come to the ball anyways, but it's a party and its Elaine I'm talking about here. She never backs down from an invitation to a night of a social gathering. What are the exact words to say, and the exact warnings I _should_ _never_ leave out? I think I need to consult Stefan.


	3. Chapter 2: Damon the Drunkard

**Chapter 2**: Damon the Drunkard

The boarding house appeared on the horizon, as I parked my car in front of their front door. I was really hoping that Stefan would be home because I don't really know what I would do if he wasn't. We had to plan this out carefully because we might not know what Damon would do if he discovers another one of my clones. As Stefan once had said, '_He's not going to stop until he gets her. He's a predator Elena, and once she gets on his crosshairs, he'll chase her until she's cornered, and then… We might not know what would happen next.' _The thought of Damon chasing and stalking my cousin gave me chills. I jeopardize her life just because of me, I can't let that happen. I'd put my sweat, blood and tears on the plan before something like that happens. I let myself in without a knock or a doorbell, closed the door behind me, and began calling out Stefan's name over and over again.

"Stefan! Stefan!" I announced as I walked all around the house. Beautiful, carved, wooden ornaments filled the house, with paintings and other historical items from 1864. The house would probably look like a museum, except of course Damon's table filled with liquor. I rolled my eyes and continued calling out his name, then I remembered. Stefan was one who would hear me in one breath, and since nobody answered me back, I was guessing he wasn't home. I went up the stairs to make sure my eyes swept the whole house before giving up the search. I went inside Stefan's room, and it was empty. The wind blew in from the open window and I felt a sudden shift of wind.

"Even better…" A familiar low and husky voice whispered behind me. I turned around to see Damon, wearing a black shirt, a leather jacket, some pants, and is lying on Stefan's bed. He had a glass of alcohol on his right hand, while his left hand was in his left pocket. A smile was imprinted on his overly beautiful face, his hair was in a mess, and his legs were crossed over the other. He stood up and began walking toward me, step by step, closer and closer.

"I've heard that like, 7 times already, and yet, whenever I come to this house and look for Stefan, I come across you. Why is that always happening to me?" I asked him with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. My eyes narrowed and my eyebrows rose, and yet he still had the courage to put his right arm over my shoulder. I could hear his alcoholic beverage sloshing right beside my ear. I automatically shrugged his arm off and he took a sip from his drink.

"It's because fate doesn't want you with Stefan. Fate wants you with the bigger and better Salvatore brother, me." He added and laughed. I'm getting tired of him comparing himself to Stefan. They were both good looking, hundred year old, _vampire_ men, what else is there to compare? The way Stefan's olive green eyes light up when I call his name, and the way Damon's pale and cold blue eyes smile at me whenever he's up to something. Is it Stefan's short light brown hair that went up his forehead, or is it Damon's medium-length raven black tresses that spread across his head in a chaotic order. It was Stefan's modest and enigmatic smile versus Damon's Cheshire Cat-like demonic grin. No more comparisons could be made, it was obvious the Damon was a _little_ better looking than Stefan is, but his dark personality clears everything else well about his physicality.

"Well, I'm not a big fan of fate." I added and rolled my eyes. Yet again, he wrapped his arm over my shoulder and laughed maniacally loud that it hurt my right ear. Could it be that he's drunk? I could smell his strong odor. It was a hint of his fine smelling perfume, Calvin Klein's _'Eternity'_, the reeking stench of tequila, and his aftershave. He's probably _really_ drunk that he wouldn't even be able to go to tonight's masquerade ball. I took the beverage from his hands and placed it on the table nearby. I pushed him to sit on the bed, and he directly fell over. My eyes widened in shock, but that's when I remembered that he was a vampire, and was impervious to pain. I looked down at him as he repeatedly closed his eyes, and crumpled his forehead, like any old drunkard. "And if I were you, I'd stop with the drinking. It's just a little piece of advice from someone who cares."

"Why do _you_ care? You're only here because you're looking for Stefan. Stop pretending you care, Elena." He replied as he tried sitting up from his position. I've never really seen someone ¾ let alone a vampire ¾ get so drunk. I don't even know how getting drunk is possible for them, when their bodies only need blood to function. I erased those thoughts from my head to focus on the real situation. I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot impatiently on the ground.

"You're such a drama queen, Damon." I said and we both laughed in chorus. I closed my eyes for a while and then continued. "And you're right, I'm here looking for Stefan. I just wanted to tell him something important. It's kind of a plan for tonight's main event." I added and he stood up. He was still unstable. His body began falling in so many directions, so I just had to hold him upright for the first few seconds. I placed my hand on his chest and tried holding him off, but he was heavy. I could feel the strain on my arms as he began falling toward. I looked up at him and noticed that he did the eye thing again. In a moment I was holding him up, and in another, I was pinned against the wall halfway across the room. Curse that vampire strength and speed.

"Is it too important for you not to tell me?" His eyebrows rose up. "That plan about the masquerade party Carol was kind enough to invite me to." He gave me a wink and a Cheshire grin. His pale blue eyes scanned my face for any sign of emotion, so I tried to keep a hold of a poker face. I rolled my eyes and walked under his arms that posed as cage to my body and began taking steps out of the door. That's till' he began talking again. "Actually, St. Stefan just went out. He said he was off to meet you and tell you something too. He's acting all _schizophrenia_ weird, muttering to himself about how _'She can't meet him'_." He mocked in a high pitched feminine voice that was supposed to resemble Stefan. I scoffed and he ignored me that time. "Who can't meet who? I'm a little bit confused, and I don't think it's because of all the drinking."

Stefan was out to meet me. And I think we both have the same thing to share to each other. We're both concocting a plan on how to make sure Elaine, doesn't meet the very infamous Damon Salvatore. I'm not really sure why we're making out such a big deal about this anyways, but it's been 3 weeks of trying to hide her from his crosshairs. Giving up now would be such a total waste.

I hadn't realized how long I was out till' I felt his arms wrap around my shoulder again, the beverage back on his hand, I rolled my eyes. "Well, if he comes back, tell him I'm waiting for him." I whispered and for the last time, finally shrugged his shoulders off of me. I grabbed the beverage from his hand and poured its contents on a nearby plant. "I told you, you should probably stop drinking, and by probably, I mean 'Stop drinking, Damon!'" I said and those were my final words before I was out the door, in my car and stepping on the gas. The Salvatore boarding house disappeared behind me.

My to-do list was completely full, and I had only 3 hours left to do everything, or else everything will collapse in front of my bare eyes. To enumerate those things I have to accomplish before 7, here are a few of them: One, look for a perfect dress to match tonight's event. Two, find Stefan and try to come up with a plan that would probably make sure Damon and Elaine _never_ meet. Three, making sure that Katherine wouldn't come. And four, thinking about the effects of what could happen if two other doppelgangers go to the party tonight. The amount of time it took to drive from the Salvatore boarding house to my home gave me enough time to think on what I should do later.


	4. Chapter 3: 2 Hours Later

**Chapter 3: **2 Hours Later

**2 Hours Later**.

The doorbell rang and it wasn't much of a surprise to see who would be on the other side of the mahogany doorway. Bonnie was behind the door, her baby blue feathered and sequined mask on her right hand, a light blue with silver lining purse on her left shoulder, and a powder blue, halter sequined ball gown covered her dark skin. Her hair was curled and she wore a straight face. I could tell she wasn't too happy about this, but if she wasn't, then why was she going?

"Hey Bonnie, you're going too, huh?" I asked her quietly and she entered the house with no hesitation. She sighed and nodded with that same face she wore when I saw her tonight.

"Do you know what the worst thing about this is?" She asked rhetorically. I knew it was a kind of question she would answer all by herself so I needed not to open my mouth. She immediately answered her own question afterwards. "It was just announced a few moments ago, literally just 3 hours ago, and we're rushed to come to this ball. I can't even believe the whole town is coming. Caroline and Matt, the whole school, I mean everyone's coming tonight. Do you know how hard it is to get a dress when apparently almost everybody's out on the dress shop renting something for themselves?" She added in an irritated tone. Her eyes rolled and she looked at me. She scanned my appearance with a confused look and added, "Speaking of dresses, where's yours?"

I sighed and bowed my head down in disappointment. The hardships and difficulties she's been through to find a dress for tonight, I didn't even get to do all four things in my to-do list. I continued to search for Stefan in the whole town for a whole hour and thirty minutes. Then, I had to take a shower and do my hair and makeup, which took about 30 minutes. Now, one hour is left and I haven't even found a ball gown. I didn't take time to explain all of these to Bonnie, so I simply summarized it all, "I don't have one."

"What do you mean you don't have one? You're Elena Gilbert! You're one of the people who always have a backup plan when something comes up." She exaggeratingly began stamping her feet repeatedly, a worried look on her face appeared. "What do you mean you don't have one?" She repeated, and I was pretty sure I didn't need to hear that for the second time.

"The Masquerade was announced about a quarter to four. I came home at 4 and began looking for Stefan. I searched everywhere, downtown, his house, literally everywhere, and all I've ever come across to was Damon. I came back at 5:30. I spent the last 30 minutes taking a shower and doing my hair and makeup, then suddenly I heard the doorbell. It was you, and now we're here." I told her everything, something I was definitely avoiding to do, but since I already explained it, I couldn't take it back. She stared at me with a hanging jaw and I know I still had to continue. "Well, I have a dress, but it isn't a ball gown, and it isn't something that should be worn to a masquerade."

Bonnie's jaw remained opened as she stared at me with wide eyes. I knew she was about to speak when suddenly, something high pitched and loud rang and shook the whole household. It was coming from the living room, and I didn't need to dig deep into my thoughts to figure out where ¾ or who ¾ that irritating soprano came from. I crossed my arms over my chest and rolled my eyes as Bonnie followed the sound, from the door to the living room. She was startled to see that the loud voices were coming from Elaine's victorious cries over a game with Jeremy on the XBOX. They probably have been playing _Need for Speed: Carbon_, after all, I _have_ been hearing a lot of engine noises.

"Yeah, beat that, Jeremy! Uh huh, oh yeah, boom! Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SP, custom made!" Elaine began screaming aloud as she waved her hands up in the air and began chanting those same cries, over and over again. Jeremy suggested another game, saying _'Best 2 out of 3'_ and Elaine replied by stating these words in a very discomfiting tone, "Game on!" And the looks on her face and by how she pronounced her statement kind of reminded me of one of the 4 worries I've been thinking about a while ago. It reminded me of how Katherine took away Caroline's life and turned her into a _Vampire_, asking Caroline to send a message to the vampire brothers, _Game On_.

I returned to my rational state of mind when I heard Elaine's voice transform from a terrifyingly annoying high octave voice to something more pleasant to hear, as she stopped her premature celebration of winning a simple 3 lapped circuit on the video game with Jeremy, and came to wave at Bonnie. "Hey Bonnie, nice dress!" She commented with a wide smile covering half of her face. Just like me, Elaine decided to do her hair and makeup before anything else. Bonnie mouthed back _'Thank You'_ and she dragged me back to the other room. Elaine placed her hands back on the joystick and the realistic engine sounds began booming off the room once again.

"Where's her dress?" Bonnie asked, concerned that the both of us might have nothing to wear. Well, that's one of her specialties; she inevitably starts worrying for everyone else, after she's done with herself. If she figures out I didn't have time to study for the quiz on Trig, she probably would've helped me review as if my life depended on it. "And how come she could play an XBOX, and _win_?" The second question made me laugh uncontrollably, but silent enough for Elaine and Jeremy not to hear. I looked at her and began answering the questions one by one.

"Well, she's been raised by wolves, and by wolves, I mean _in an all-boy society_. She learned how to get down and dirty with them, she learned how to act and dress like them, heck she even learned how to _understand_ and _talk_ like them. You know, sports, cars, hot celebrities." I smiled at her widely, loving to know that information. Elaine has a boyish side to her, and that made me feel a lot closer to her than ever. She could give me advice about boys, and we could exchange. "She's also more of a music person, and an academic goddess. When it comes to charm, we're almost as the same, but somehow, she's a lot better than me at that too." I mentioned and laughed, too forcibly to be addressed as someone who is jealous. "And for her dress, it's upstairs. She said she didn't want to ruin it. She didn't want to sweat in it, she didn't want to have food fall on it. She wanted it to be a surprise." I answered her question and an immediate perplexed expression spread across her face.

"Oh, well she's a real talented girl. Too bad she doesn't have the talent of communicating with the supernatural." Bonnie added and then let out a short giggle. "She may be able to be good at academics, co-curricular and socializing with humans, but you still have the unique gift of having to be a magnet for abnormal people. I mean, you have 2 vampire brothers on each arm, even though one of them is a complete jackass," She added, absolutely referring to Damon. "You have a vampire and a witch as best friends and of course, your classmate and his uncle happens to be a werewolf. Oh, and have I mentioned that you have a weird doppelganger that's sent to make your life miserable." I laughed at the fact almost every one of those statements were true. A smile crept up to my face, and lightened my chocolate brown eyes.

"You could deal with the supernatural, and _still_ maintain your sanity. It's a gift I tell you." She raised her eyebrows and grinned widely. She grabbed my hand afterwards and began dragging me upstairs. I looked at her with such confusion that my forehead probably crumpled. She choked out another giggle and then immediately spoke. "Are we going upstairs, or what?" She added.

"Huh?"

"Well, we're going to fix up your dress, so that it will be masquerade appropriate."

"How will you do that?"

"I'm a witch remember. I'm capable of revising clothes; making masks appear from nowhere, oh and apparently make vampires fall in complete and total torment and pain in a single look." She added and that was when I suddenly got the picture. She was kind enough to spend her last hour with me to fix my dress and make it _ball gown_ worthy. She's like my fairy godmother now, only she's my best friend, and instead of being a fairy, she was a witch. A smile crept up my face and I hugged her without even thinking that we were in the middle of the stairs.

"Come on! We've got less than 50 minutes to fix up that dress!" She led me to my room, and as soon as we got inside, she opened the closet and closed the door to my room, locking it behind her. Then, behind those closet doors, appeared a peach colored cocktail dress with a perfectly carved halter in silver lining.


	5. Chapter 4: Convo with the Boyfriend

**Chapter 4**: Conversation with the Boyfriend

**Elaine's POV**

I am utterly and completely distracted by this video game, and I didn't even know why I was. I was playing it with my cousin's younger brother, who may be 15 years old, and look at me. I'm like turning 18 in a few months, and I'm all caught up in a car racing game with nice graphics and cool noises. What am I, an 8-year-old boy? I should be getting ready for the masquerade tonight, and I should already have a boyfriend to cuddle with, but what's up? No boyfriend, no relationship, no love. Well, I don't really care about love nowadays. Sometimes, I act like I don't have a heart to begin with. The more you try to turn your emotions off, the easier life will be. But sometimes, it'll just lead you in doing something stupid.

The last boyfriend I had was Dante. We were complete opposites at first, he was the lion and I was the lion tamer. I was supposed to be the one who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and doesn't do _sex_, and he was the one to do all those stuff. Then, he converted me into doing what he wanted. I became more of a free American than I was before. I learned how to drink, and learned every one of his habits. And suddenly, like a boy who got tired with his dull old toy, he broke up with me cause' he lost interest on what was happening. He got tired that we had more in common than we did before. It was a hard month, and it made me drown myself in alcohol in the name of grief. And the idiotic thing about that was that it just happened two months ago. The wound is fresh, and I could feel the tangy lemon juice squeeze on it whenever I hear about love.

Everything was all in the wrong places and I think I just got over the rebound a few weeks ago, when I had a girls' night out with one of my best friends, Pandora. We went out clubbing, and she reminded me how I could live without a man on my arm. But since then, I carried all the characteristics I've inherited from him, but still lived with the instinct of being independent. And those are one of the things that are bad about falling in love with the wrong person, you get used to what they're doing, and one day, you'll be the one doing it.

I was in the middle of the game with Jeremy when I suddenly heard the doorbell ring. I pressed pause and immediately and told Jeremy that he could practice for a few more minutes while I go to the front door and see who it could be. I got up from my position on the couch and began walking. I grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, and a small smile crept up to my face when olive green eyes came to met my chocolate brown ones.

It was Stefan, my cousin's boyfriend, in a formal tuxedo, a bouquet of red and white roses wrapped in yellow silk which I knew were for Elena. His face was covered with a silver Phantom of the Opera mask, his light green depths glowed under the light of the fluorescent bulb right beside the doorframe outside. He had a smile on his face, and I knew what that meant. He was ready for a _'good evening'_ kiss from Elena, too bad she's facing dress problems upstairs. That's when I remembered that I looked exactly like her. I could use my looks and manipulate him into believing that I'm the original Elena, to test how well he could differentiate his girlfriend from a doppelganger.

"Hey, I'm guessing those are for me?" My eyes narrowed in a bewildering manner, with a grimace completing the look. I blinked slowly and began stepping a few steps forward, trying my luck to see if he'd believe me, but promising to myself that I won't go over the boundaries of having our lips really touch. I bit my lower lip and a grin spread on Stefan's lips. He believes me, or does he? He may only be using that as a diversion for him to think about the odds on who could really be in front of his eyes. Then he opened his mouth.

"Well… I really was planning on giving these to…" He paused and sighed, with a playful smirk on his lips. "Elena. I'm sorry Elaine, but you just can't trick me with that again." He finally finished the sentence. I rolled my eyes and choked out a forced laugh from my vocal box. I invited him to come into the kitchen for a _short _conversation.

"I'm really impressed that you guessed correctly, Stefan." A small smile crept up to my lips, but then suddenly faded when I paused. He took his mask off when he heard my sigh and came to me, face to face, eye to eye. "But, I'm rather disappointed that you even had to _think_ yourself through before answering my question. I mean, as her boyfriend, aren't you supposed to be able to differentiate Elena from any other girl in just one glimpse?" I crossed my arms over my chest and began tapping my foot impatiently on the ground. He was a few inches taller than me, so I just knew I had to look up to see his expression, and he was _far_ more disappointed than I was.

"It was a little difficult to distinguish you from each other." He looked down and closed his eyes in failure, but then looked back into my eyes and smirked. "Your smile and the expression in your eyes gave yourself away. Elena could never smile with eyes filled with so much evil, and manipulation, but still, I could see the goodness behind those eyes you looked at me with, and I knew it could just be you." And I blushed with no hesitation. He knew just what to say, and those were one of the things that prevented me from hating him. I usually hate people's boyfriends, but Elena had a real nice taste in guys. Stefan was a gentleman, he knew how to woo girls, and he's _hot_. I laughed.

"Well, you know I _love_ flattery, but…" I stopped midway and got my serious face on. It was something I never really used that often, except for when I really need to get things done, either for me, or for people who _need_ me to do it for them. "Flattery would get you nowhere. Now, I really like you. Elena hadn't had many boyfriends over the years, and you're the finest one I've ever met yet, and I'm really concerned for you. I'm here to give you tips on how to differentiate her, from me, because one day that will be one mistake I'm pretty sure you _will_ regret."

I clapped my hands once and then began pacing around the room, in circles. "The first difference you could find would be that I usually wear my hair in curls, and she wears hers' straight." I told him formally and he raised his eyebrows in reassurance. _She's probably right_, I could already hear him think. "Two, I have a bad habit of having an overly expressive face. You could see every ounce of emotion I have in my eyes, because they narrow, widen, and do other things _involuntarily_." I added. He nodded once and crossed his arms over his chest. "And for the last and _most obvious_ difference you could see between the two of us, would be that she was that pendant you gave her. It's pretty obvious, dude." I chuckled and his jaw dropped in utter stupidity. _How could I have not noticed that?_ I read his expression and added an additional giggle, till' the words that came out of his mouth were totally different from what I have thought of.

"Where's Elena?" He asked in a very urgent voice, as if something really bad troubled him. My eyes widened in shock and I blinked repeatedly, as my mouth dropped slowly. I couldn't process the right words. The urgency in his eyes really caught me off guard.

"She's upstairs with Bonnie, fixing her dress." I answered, and in a moment, he was on his way upstairs. That's when I was suddenly able to breathe again. I didn't know why I felt the shock and surprise in his voice when I was exactly a different person. I blinked a couple more times, and I could feel my heart beat inside my chest loudly.

That's when I began walking back to the living room to continue my game with Jeremy. Hopefully, he didn't downgrade my cars. What a cheater. I laughed quietly to myself as I saw him doing what I just thought a moment ago.


	6. Chapter 5: What's the Reason?

**Chapter 5**: What's the Reason?

**Elena's POV**

Bonnie closed the closet doors after planning what was supposed to be added and what was supposed to be removed from the peach colored cocktail dress. In a few seconds, she closed her eyes and began concentrating, her hands hovering over the closet doors, up and down repeatedly. I saw how the closet doors began shaking, like there was a wild animal trapped on the other side of the closet. My eyes widened as I stepped a few steps back from the doors. The shaking stopped and Bonnie grabbed the handles of the closet doors. Behind those covers, a beautiful floor length peach colored, sparkling ball gown appeared before my eyes.

It was flared, multi tiered, and it was designed with intricate patterns printed in silver and sparkling sequins. I immediately wrapped my arms around Bonnie and hugged her as tight as I could. She told me to try it on and I grabbed the dress from the hanger. I began slipping it on with the help of Bonnie, for the zipper at the back, and for my hair not to get messed up. In a second, I was in my casual everyday clothes, and in a turn, I was in a magical ball gown my best friend just magically made out from nothing.

I saw myself on the reflection with a wide smile spread far across my face, as Bonnie watched me as I admired her design. I couldn't count how many times I've constantly repeated the words 'Thank You' to her over and over again, but she also constantly replied with a huge 'Your Welcome'. I kept on twirling around and around the room, till' Bonnie stopped me midway.

"You may want to put this one." She stated with her hands behind her back. There was something she was going to give me and it was another surprise. I got a surprised look on my face when she showed it to me. It was a mask just like hers, feathered and sequined, only it was peach colored. It matched the dress that she had just made for me, and it was something that would cover half of my face. She handed me the mask and insisted I try it on. We both placed our masks in position as we tied the ribbons behind our head, and as we turned around, the mirror was facing us. It was a complete photo shoot moment. Dresses of peacock blue, and sunset sky peach flowed as we both began prancing around, our heels clicking on the floor. Our premature party was disturbed by a low knock on the door. I went to answer it and saw _him_.

It was the man I have been searching for this entire day, literally. His short, light brown hair, light green eyes that stared at mine with concern, and the face of an angel. He was in a semi formal tuxedo, black and white. A silver mask covered half of his face, and it made his olive eyes stand out from them. In his hands were a bouquet of the freshest and most beautiful batch of blood red, and pure white colored roses. We stared at each other for a moment, before he leaned in to kiss me. It was a kiss of urgency, and it was quicker than the usual, but longer than a peck. He stepped in the room and stared straight at Bonnie, while Bonnie stared at him back. Then his eyes met mine once again.

"Stefan, I've been looking for you all day, where have you been?" I asked him hysterically, my eyes were beginning to show how worried I am for him. He began pacing back and forth around the room. "Stefan, what's wrong? Tell me."

"The plan, it's all going to go downhill when they meet at the masquerade ball tonight at the Lockwood's estate." And that's when I finally remembered what I was supposed to be planning about. Bonnie trying to redo my dress was quite a distraction, and apparently it wasn't the best time to get distracted. The 2 hours passed by so quickly, and I haven't even come up of anything for a plan.

"Oh my God, I totally forgot Stefan! What are we supposed to do?"

"I was about to use that excuse." I stared at him, my jaw on the floor. "I was out, looking for you too. I only got here a couple of minutes ago. I talked with Elaine, and she kind of reminded me about what we had to do. But, it kind of slipped my mind too." He added and sighed, it was a deep one. "Now, what are we going to do?"

"What are you talking about guys?" Bonnie interrupted us immediately, after our conversation of being stumped. I totally forgot that she was in the same room as the two of us. I was just too busy worrying about the fact that we don't have a plan to support what our mission was. I sat on the bed, as Bonnie impatiently crossed her arms on her chest, and raised her eyebrows. I gave Stefan a quick glance of approval and he nodded once to me. I sighed and got ready for the story of the century.

"Elaine is spending her summer vacation here. The moment she arrived, and the moment Stefan laid eyes on her, it was the exact and very moment he had a bad feeling about her. I didn't know what was it that Elaine had that made Stefan loath her so much during her first week. She was nice, obedient, polite, and had a great sense of humor. She could also be capable of being mean, and arrogant, but most of all, she looked exactly like me. It was as if we were identical twin sisters from birth. I still didn't realize what it was, till' Stefan opened up, and that's when I got all the puzzle pieces together," I explained to her and finished the first part of the story.

"She was the complete spitting image of _me_, and all of the troubles that have been happening around were because of that." Bonnie got a confused expression on her face, and I snorted out a small, forced out laugh. "That was the very same expression I wore on my face when Stefan explained that to me,"

"See, I am the very spitting image of Katherine, and that was already 70% of the troubles that happened in all our lives, mine, yours and Stefan's. So now there were 2 Katherines in the world. With Elaine visiting for the whole 10 week summer vacation and her having the same physical attributes as me, it added another Katherine to the world. So now, there was three of her."

"What's it got to do with what the two of you are talking about?" Bonnie added, still confused with the conversation.

"Let me put it this way: Elaine arrived, she looked like me. Stefan's more confused than ever because we're both human. He doesn't trust Elaine very much, before. Now that everything's okay, he – let me rephrase that – we're afraid that _Damon_ might get his paws all over her for the rest of these 10 weeks. And we can't let another soul know about what's happening in the world of vampires, witches and werewolves. Then there's Katherine, who might think Elaine's me and probably traumatize her for the rest of her life." And that's when we both Stefan and I heard Bonnie's long _'Oh, I get it'_. She nodded, and then came a look on her face that probably meant she was trying to think about something really _hard_.

"It's a hard thing to plan, isn't it Bonnie? I'm still stumped, and I don't think Stefan has any ideas either. Face it, they're going to meet each other, and our 3 week effort has been _officially_ ruined." I gave up and lay my head on the bed. I turned my head to the side to check the clock. There were 20 minutes left till' 7 o' clock, and I don't think we have anything else to do any more except to drive to the reception. Bonnie interrupted my train of thought.

"How about I watch over Elaine?" And that caught me off guard when Bonnie suggested her idea.

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean, it is Damon anyway, I can handle him." My eyes blinked repeatedly and my jaw dropped open. "Don't even think about this ruining my night. It won't. I promise. _I'll enjoy every second of guarding the precious princess, Elaine Gilbert_." She said that last part with a sarcastic tone in her voice, and her eyebrows rose up. I still couldn't get a hang of Bonnie's kindness for tonight.

"Are you sure?" Stefan added. "You may want to enjoy tonight. I think I could handle my brother."

"No, it's alright. I am sure. Just be ready, in case I need back up." Bonnie replied with a wide grin on her face. "Now, let's go! We've got a Masquerade to attend to."


	7. Chapter 6: Speechless

**Chapter 6**: Speechless

**Elaine's POV**

I stared up the clock and saw that it was already 20 minutes past 6. I had to get ready now. I excused myself from Jeremy, again, and this time it was a permanent depart. He had to dress up too, so we fixed the game console up and kept it in its original place. I immediately ran up the stairs and shut my room. I could hear voices coming from Elena's room, but it was best if I finished my appearance first, _before_ eavesdropping.

I went inside my room as fast as I could and locked the door as it shut. The blood red dress I've rented from one of the dress shops Elena recommended to me was laid across my bed. Matching red stilettos were right below them, and a red mask studded with sequins and designed intricately with black lace lay beside the dress. Immediately I wore the clothes carefully, making sure my make up doesn't get smudged, my hair doesn't get ruined, and that the dress wouldn't get stained. I checked myself on the mirror as I carefully tied my red mask with matching ribbons on the back of my head. It was the perfect look for the perfect event. And then, I was ready.

Apparently, Jeremy and I finished at the same time, so we decided to go down the stairs together. Elena, in a beautiful peach colored dress, stood right below the staircase, conversing with Stefan, as beautiful, dashing and as handsome as he really is. Bonnie was standing right beside Elena and Stefan, watching our every move. I was filled with pride when I realized how smooth everything was pulling through. Elena got a beautiful dress, Stefan was already here, and we are all ready for the party. I saw how Stefan and Elena were whispering with each other and how they took quick glances of me. The final step was taken and Elena approached me, as Jeremy, Bonnie and Stefan headed outside to start the car. She smiled at me fully and I smiled at her right back.

"Elena, your dress looks beautiful. I can't even believe you made it on time. What happened, a witch suddenly appeared and poofed your dress to life?" I asked sarcastically, and a giggle came out from my lips. Elena continued to smile as she fondled something in between her fingers. It was something with a chain on it, and it was apparently a piece of jewelry. I wonder what it is.

"Thanks, you look beautiful too. And here," She added handing me a small necklace with a beautiful silver and lavender charm dangling from its tip. "It's a little necklace Stefan decided to give to you, just a little lucky charm for tonight. Like you said, it is Friday the 13th, and there is a full moon tonight. Supernatural creatures may be lurking around every corner. It's best to keep safe, and drive them away. The smell of that dried flower is strong enough for it to drive evil away." She smirked, while I rolled the charm with dried lavender under my finger tips and sniffed it. It smelled good.

"Supernatural, huh? Well, Elena, I think you know that I _love_ mythical folklore and other paranormal things, so I think I'd treasure this until the end of forever." She smiled at me with pleasure, and I smiled back at reply. It's a great thing to know that your cousin doesn't think you're some deranged old believer of myths and other things that are almost _impossible_ to believe. "What's the flower called?"

"It's called _Vervain_. It smells good, doesn't it? Well, I'll give you a whole vase of those if you _promise_ that you won't take that necklace off unless Stefan or I tell you to, alright?" Her voice was filled with concern, and I don't know why. If she didn't believe in any of these supernatural do hicky, why is she so alarmed? I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Whatever you say, _Elena_." I gave her a quick wink, and she flinched. That made a weird expression to crawl up to my face. I disregarded that and just told her, "Come on, we're going to be late for the party!" I said and then grabbed her arm as we headed for the door, and I dragged her to her car, where Stefan was behind the wheel.

I saw Stefan eyeing the necklace he handed to Elena to give to me. I gave him a wide smile, and he smiled back in reply. Suddenly, the pressure in the atmosphere began becoming less tense. Everyone began relaxing, and letting their shoulders slump. It was such a great sight to see that everyone gets to have time to enjoy their lives, even if it's only held tonight. You know what they say, All work and no play makes John a dull boy, and all play and no work gets some people pregnant.

The drive was short and quiet, everything was peaceful. The night lights were shining, the headlights of the car lit the glowing pavement, the moon glistened behind the clouds, and the stars sparkled with it. I could hear the sounds of the night and the soft purr of the engine as we made our way to the Lockwood's Estate. When we got closer and closer to the reception, I could already hear the loud classical music coming from the hired orchestra. It wasn't something people of my age, or as the adults calls us, '_teenagers'_, liked to hear. It was boring and it was old. It made me think of an idiotic idea I could do at this party.

Stefan made the car crawl and found a great parking space, just near the front door. The car came to a full stop, and we all got out. Bonnie, Elena and I had a hard time getting out because of our poofy dresses, but it was all good with the help of two dashing gentlemen, namely Stefan and Jeremy, to help us out. We walked to the front door and Elena gave the doorbell a good push. I noticed how bright yellow and orange incandescent bulbs shone bright inside the room. It reflected out of the window, and outshined the sparkle of the moon. I was so distracted that I didn't even notice someone answer the door. It was a blond woman with bright pink lips that looked like she was either in her 30's, or her 40's. I greeted her with a smile.

"Good Evening Elena, it's so nice to see you here. Who's your friend?" Her eyes directed toward me when she was asking the question. I just knew I couldn't let my smile fade when I'm in the presence of the mayor's wife, or should I say widow?

"This is my cousin, Elaine Gilbert. She's here on her summer vacation, visiting."

"Oh, well then, it's nice to meet you." She took my hand and gave it a good shake. I replied by saying _'It's a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Lockwood'_. She invited the five of us inside her house and then we stepped in. I was overwhelmed by the color of this masquerade. There were different shades and colors of dresses flowing in the middle of the room as couples danced along with the music. Across the room was an orchestra, and they were playing the waltz. On the other side of the room was a small bar where a masked bartended mixed drinks. I think I should grab a drink before doing what I was _planning_ to do. I grabbed Elena's arm and shook it, trying to get her attention.

"Elena, could I just go to the bar over there. I think I need something to clear my throat." She nodded yes and I smiled back at her. I made my way through the room, and actually danced my way there. There were so many people twirling and dancing all over the place that it was really hard to navigate. Then, I saw the bright white lights of the bar illuminate and I followed them. There were alcohol bottles lined up, brown leg high stools, and of course, a masked bar tender. I was glad to find out that no one was lined up. I gladly walked over the bar and tried sitting on one of the stools, but this heavy ball gown kept on preventing me from doing that, so I just gave up. I heard the bartender chuckling at me.

"Well, it's very hard to sit in a 3 foot tall stool when you're wearing a 10-pound heavy ball gown." I added and he just continued to chuckle. "Could I have a shot of tequila, please? Make it sweet." I added and tapped my fingers on the table. The bartender had slightly curly dark brown hair, and light blue eyes that glistened under the shining fluorescent bulb. He looked a little bit like 25, but his real age is a mystery to me. He gave me a smirk and then leaned on the table.

"Are you even legal enough to drink yet?" He asked rhetorically. I scoffed loudly and rolled my eyes. So now what? I was supposed to be at the legal age to drink? The first shot my system had taken in was when I was 13. It wasn't even aware that it was a shot. I was just at my friend's house, working on the treadmill, and I asked her for a glass of water. She gave me a glass, and it had a weird aftertaste. How stupid had I been not being able to tell alcohol from water? I sighed and slapped my hands on the table.

"Fine, then just give me a glass of coke, mister man in a gold mask who refuses to give me a shot of tequila." I replied to him sarcastically, and laid my head on the table as I continued to drum my fingers on the countertop impatiently. I saw how he choked out a series of chuckles, as he gathered up the coke in can, and a tall glass. He got some ice and poured it on the glass. After preparing my simple soda, he pushed the glass toward me.

"My name is Mason Lockwood, and I am the mayor's cooler and _much_ younger brother." He whispered as he saw me grab the glass and put it against my mouth. I shot it down my throat and when I placed it back on the table, it was already half empty. I raised my eyebrows at him and then crossed my arms over my chest.

"Is that supposed to scare me, the fact that you have power? Well, I am Elaine Gilbert, and I am Elena's cousin. I am independent, I am strong, I am fierce, and I'm sure not afraid of anything." I replied, giving him a smirk.

"I wouldn't provoke me if I were you. There _is_ a full moon tonight."

"I'm pretty sure werewolves don't exist, and if they do, I think I've got enough silver on me to protect me from one." And that was one thing he smiled about. It wasn't a smile of sarcasm, no; it was a little more with a hint of interest and curiosity. He raised his eyebrows and let out a low and husky laugh.

"I like your necklace."

"Thanks, it's coated with vervain. I like your ring." I replied back to him. I've just lately realized this town is filled with weirdly good looking people with strangely tacky jewelry. There was Elena with a _Vervain_ necklace, Stefan with his _Lapis Lazuli_ ring, Jeremy and Rick, Elena's history teacher, with a big ring, and now Mason's shiny white ring.

"It's a moonstone. It prevents werewolves from transforming into wolves at the night of a full moon." He said jokingly, grinned. So, he's a big fan of supernatural jokes too, huh? "I like you, you seem, _interesting_."

"I like you too, too bad. I'm not really into the whole 7 year gap thing. Kind of pedophile-ish, isn't it?" I replied, finishing off the glass of coke I ordered. I laughed and handed him the glass. He placed it on the small sink and washed it quickly. As he was drying the glass, his eyes were studying my expressions.

"Well, if Angelina and Brad could do it, I think we could do the same."

"One night stands aren't really my forte."

"I guess you should look into it a lot more." We both leaned in on the table and continued leaning in until our faces were only inches apart. Then, I stopped anything from happening. I'm not _that_ desperate for a kiss on a masquerade ball.

"It's nice to meet you, Mason."

"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Gilbert." And those were my last words I said to Sir Mason Lockwood. I began making my way back to Elena, Stefan and Bonnie, till' I heard the orchestra playing, just a few steps near the very place where I was standing, and that reminded me of the idea I had planned a while ago. It was idiotic, and it could only be done by people who really have no intention of either embarrassing themselves, or having themselves booed of the stage. But hey, I was _Elaine Gilbert_, and I can do anything.

I smiled as I made me way through the crowd and I called the maestro down to listen to my request. I greeted him a fair evening and asked if I could play a song for the people to enjoy. It will be something that teenagers would like to hear. It will be something from a singer they all adore. It will be a song by… _Lady Gaga_. The Maestro looked at me with an uncertainty, but as soon as the song ended, he already began introducing me on stage. He asked for my name, but I said nothing but _Juliet_. I don't want anyone to know that I'm Elena's cousin. it might bring her an eternity of embarrassment and bad luck.

As I walked up the stage near the band, I could see Elena's face light up and flush red. I could see her shaking her head from left to right, but I was already up the stage there was no stopping me. I saw the shining black grand piano on the middle of the stage and walked up to it. I sat down on the stool and began letting my fingers do all the work as they trailed on the piano:

_I can't believe what you said to me last night we were alone_

_You threw your hands up, baby you gave up, you gave up_

_I can't believe how you looked at me with your James Dean glossy eyes_

_With your tight jeans, and your long hair, and your cigarette stained lies_

_Could we fix you if you broke, and is your punch line just a joke?_

_I'll never talk again, oh boy you've left me speechless_

_You've left me speechless, so speechless_

_And I'll never love again, oh boy you've left me speechless_

_You've left me speechless, so speechless_

_I can't believe how you slurred at me with your half wire broken jaw_

_You popped my heart seams, all my bubble dreams, bubble dreams_

_I can't believe how you looked at me with your Johnny Walker eyes_

_He's gonna get you and after he's through, there's gonna be no love left to rye_

_And I know that it's complicated, but I'm a loser for love so baby_

_Raise a glass to mend all the broken hearts of all my wrecked up friends_

_I'll never talk again, oh boy you've left me speechless_

_You've left me speechless, so speechless_

_And I'll never love again, oh friend you've left me speechless_

_You've left me speechless, so speechless_

_And after all the drinks and the bars that we've been to,_

_Would you give it all up, I could give it all up for you_

_And after all the boys and the girls that we've been through_

_Would you give it all up, could you give it all up?_

_If I promise, boy to you_

_That I'll never talk again, and I'll never love again_

_I'll never write a song, won't even sing along_

_I'll never love again_

I pressed the very last note on the piano and the crowd gave a loud cheer. There were applause, and wolf whistles everywhere that it echoed through the whole ball room. Ah, the power of Lady Gaga's _Speechless_ really is one of the greatest _power ballads_ of all time.


	8. Chapter 7: The Golden Voice

**Chapter 7**: The Golden Voice

*****AUTHORS NOTE***:**

_This may be my very first author's note for this story, and all I got to say is that I'm giving you readers a fair __**WARNING**__. This chapter is in __**Damon's POV**__, and as you all know, Damon has such a psychotic and provocative mind filled with profanities and etcetera. If there was a way to rank this chapter __**M**__ instead of __**T**__, I would totally do it. There will be a __**few**__ bad words and provocative __**images**__ subliminally delivered through Damon's mind, so I'd just want to warn you about that one. Its okay if you may want to skip this chapter, but hey, it's in __**Damon's POV**__, you don't know what you're missing. :)_

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**Damon's POV**

Hmm, I guess being drunk really has a lot of effect on you, too bad that alcohol wore off so quickly. I _literally_ enjoyed every moment of being drunk. It turned off that small little switch on the back of my head that actually tells me to care. I _love_ it. And my encounter with Elena today was quite interesting. I love it when she doesn't get _her_ way, and as a bonus, she gets _my_ way instead of hers. It really turns me on.

It was 10 minutes past 7, and I actually forgot about that party. I just recently woke up from a nice and long 4 hour nap, passed out on the bed, which was a little weird cause' I'm pretty sure vampires don't pass out when they're drunk. I took a quick shower and right now, I'm actually buttoning up the white long sleeved shirt I will be wearing under a black vest with some casual dress pants to match it. I'm such a handsome son of a bitch.

I admired myself in the mirror for quite a while before heading out of the house, but before completely leaving, I took one last shot of brandy. _This night's not going to get any better than this._ I shot it down and was on my way to the Lockwood Estate. It was a quick drive, of course it was. I was driving at a speed of 110 mph, why wouldn't I be there in a span of 5 minutes.

I rang the doorbell as soon as I got the car parked. I could hear the loud buzzing of voices right outside, and the boring old classical music sounding off. I've had too long of a 165 year life filled with _that_ kind of music and it's enough to make me puke. I waited for someone to get the door, till' someone finally opened it. It was Carol, and she sure had a pleasure of seeing me too. I heard her heart rate speed up when she laid her eyes on me. I didn't know I was _that_ hot. I gave her a smirk and greeted her, "Hello Carol."

"Damon Salvatore, It's always a bliss to see you. Your brother and Elena got here a couple of minutes ago. You might want to wear your mask. It is a masquerade after all." She batted her eyelashes and gave me a wide smile. I knew she just had a little bit of desire for me, every single time I see her cheeks blush when I'm around her, and how her breathing becomes erratic. Too bad I'm not into women who just got widowed, being totally on the rebound.

"Well, it's nice to know I'm wanted, and I'm pretty sure I'm _always_ wanted." I smiled and she stepped a few steps back to let me in. I walked in with my hands inside my pocket. I wore the mask I found laying around in the house and carefully scanned every waking face staring at me, even those who weren't. I searched for my saintly brother and the girl of his dreams who looked exactly like my ex. And I saw them. Elena was in a perky peach dress, and it was something that screams _'Damon, lift the skirt'_. I have enough respect for Elena to not even think about that, but sometimes, her clothes make me think the exact opposite. I walked up to them, and saw that Bonnie the witch was just a few steps away.

"Hey Stef, Elena, Bonnie." I greeted them casually. I saw Elena's eyes narrow behind her mask, and I could hear the blood rushing in her veins. That was the way it always was with girls. Either they hate me _so_ much that I make their blood boil, or they love me as much that their breathing almost sounds like moans. I gave her a huge smirk and Stefan cleared his throat.

"What are you doing here, Damon?"

"Carol invited me. And even if she didn't, I'd still be going. I told Elena a while ago when she came by the boarding house." I smiled and narrowed my eyes. "Now, if you could excuse me, I think I need to get another drink. I think I enjoy consuming alcohol whenever something doesn't go right in my world." I waved them goodbye and quickly walked to the bar. Oh look, the bar tender smelled like a wet dog. I guess who could that dark brown haired dog might be?

I sat on one of the stools. "Oh look what the dog dragged in. Mason Lockwood, I can't believe our paths crossed again." I smirked and to his displeasure, I could hear his heart pound like a hammer. "Tequila, make it strong."

"Damon Salvatore, the lady killer. I wouldn't trust me with making you a drink. We did have a history of having impossibly wrong innuendos. That silver knife to the abs is a real wrong move. You might not know when I'd spike your drink with vervain." He smirked back as he continued cleaning his table top. I drummed my fingers on the counter and pouted.

"Well then, I'll make my drink for myself." I paused for a while as I began going to the other side of the bar where I was beside Mason. I took out the alcohol bottles from above the shelf. I saw a bottle of _Del Maguey Pechuga_, one of the most expensive and luxurious tequila brands ever made. It may cost $100, more or less, for a bottle, but hey, it's worth it. Everything became silent again when the orchestra stopped playing. The gray haired maestro that led the band grabbed the microphone and spoke into it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special performance from a very young lady here. She'll be singing a power ballad from one of her long term idols, Lady Gaga. Here she is now, dashing in red, Ms. _Juliet_!" What a nice introduction. I saw how everyone clapped unsurely. I looked over to my side and saw Elena shaking her head from side to side quickly. Hmm, this is going to be interesting.

The lady in red, who looked like she was 18, walked to the middle of the stage and sat in front of the brilliant ebony painted piano. Her hands began trailing on the keyboard like a professional. She closed her eyes and leaned on to the microphone. When she parted her bright red lips, I expected another high pitched voice like that Bieber kid, but I was surprised to hear something a lot more different, it was something rare. She had a golden voice, and it was beautiful.

_I'll never talk again, and I'll never love again, I'll never write a song, won't even sing along, I'll never love_ _again_. That song perfectly made me think of something, an exact scene with an exact person, even though that person might not _really _be a real person. It was 1864 and I was ignorant and stupid, but I remember vividly how I was unmistakably in love with Katherine. That time, I didn't care about what was happening in the world. There was only me, and her. She was an angel sent from heaven, her very presence ignites my mind and my body, and she was everything I could ever want and_ more_. I imagined my life with her. I imagined my future. I imagined our children, and _their_ children. Then vampire hijinks ensued, Stefan and I competed for her affections, we both died and turned into vampires, and then she chose _him_. I've spent 145 looking for her, longing for her, hoping that we could be together again, but I just know dreams don't always come true as you envisioned them.

"Hey, I know that girl. She came by here a while ago and asked for tequila." Mason _rudely_ interrupted my longing as he washed the dishes. I poured in a glass of tequila on a margarita glass and shot it down. That was weak. I rolled my eyes and poured in another glass. I hope this won't go on my tab.

"Oh really? You like manipulating young teenage girls into drinking? What, are you getting too desperate?" I chugged down another glass, and I still couldn't feel the affect of the alcohol on me.

"I wouldn't say desperate. Besides, you're a lot older than me. Isn't playing _pedophilia_ with a human girl getting a little silly?"

"Just give it up already. We both know I'm better looking than you."

"Sure, sure, you win. Being a blood sucking vampire is a real upgrade when it comes to sex appeal. Have it your way."

"Well, thanks for the drink Mason. I really enjoyed our 10 minute bonding moment over a few glasses of the best tequila in the world, and a continuation of our innuendos. I think I got to go now, I have a girl to stalk." I whispered as I tapped my hands on the table and began making my way through the back to Elena's. I tried to completely silence myself and I heard soft murmurs that involved Elena's soft whispers, Stefan's replies, and a voice I've never heard before that was conversing with the two of them.

I narrowed my eyes and looked around for who they were talking to. And when the people cleared away enough for me to recognize the figure, it was not what I thought it was. I saw Elena in her peach gown, talking with hand actions to the lady in red who appeared to have just been on the stage. It was that Juliet girl with the golden voice. I could hear her heartbeat from this distance, how her pulse beat under her tan skin. I paused for a while and waited for her to finish her conversation with the two of them, so I could make my move. As soon as she was on her way gliding through the crowd, I walked up to the two of them conversing seriously in low and broad voices.

"Elena, Stefan, why didn't you guys allow me to meet that girl with the _beautiful_ voice? You didn't even let me know you know her." I interrogated them in a whisper and I noticed how Elena's heart beat shifted and increased in speed. What were they keeping from me?


	9. Chapter 8: Hmm

**Chapter 8****: **Hmm…

**Elaine's POV**

I stepped down the stage and every one gave me wide smiles. I look to the left, I look to the right, and I was pretty sure that there were dozens of masked faces everywhere with tight grins on their lips, eyes filled with sheer joy and excitement, ready for an encore, and their applauding hands sounding of a thunderous clap. I was amazed by their support and their delight with such an improvising performance. I glided through the room as graceful as I can, even though I know I'm such a total klutz. I began turning my head sideways to find Elena but she was nowhere behind the colorful costumes and the enigmatic faces everyone was wearing, till' I felt a soft and gentle tap on my right shoulder.

I turned around to see that it was a beautiful blond with emerald green eyes hidden behind a pink mask designed by lace. She was wearing a ravishing hot pink gown that flowed to the floor with beads sprinkled on the halter. Her hair was let loose and in curls beside her head, and her pink lips were all the way covering half of her face. It was the beautiful _Caroline Forbes_ with luscious golden hair like silk flowing from her head. I gave her a wide smile and she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.

"I've never seen you perform like that, Elena! You were really great!" Uh, did she just call me Elena? Haven't we already moved on from that phase? I got away from her embrace and stared at her with menacing eyes. I knew she just couldn't stand that look, and I also know that she'd recognize me in one glimpse with eyes as fierce as a cat's. I drew my lip into a straight line and stared back at her.

"Wrong answer." I replied back and continued my icy cold stares. I could see beads of her sweat trickling down her face in pressure, and I didn't know why. It was just a simple question with two choices, and if I wasn't Elena, it was obvious that I was _Elaine_. She interlocked with my gaze and then gasped wide eyed, her lips parted in complete shock. I looked at her in a confused manner as she whispered a completely unknown name to me. _Katherine_. I tilted my head sideward and tried digging up my mind for the right reply. Who the hell was Katherine, and why did Caroline, one of my cousin's best friends whom I've met like _7_ times, mistake me for _her_?

"Who's Katherine?" I asked her ignorantly. I crossed my arms on my chest as I raised my eyebrows up. It was only 3 weeks since we first met, and I bet she doesn't even know that I'm very impatient, easily provoked, and I _hate_ not knowing about things that are going on around me. Her eyes widened and then I suddenly felt her ice cold arms wrap around me once again.

"Oh my God, Elaine, I am _so_ sorry!" She said in an apologetic tone. I felt myself stiffen at her hard touch. "You know how much you and Elena look alike, and I haven't got enough of my mind aligned in the right place to observe the differences and," She paused as her lips began stuttering, looking for the right words to say. "Katherine, she's one of my friends who just happen to resemble you and Elena. I really thought you were her when you stared at me with an _'I'm going to kill you'_ look and¾"

"Shh, Caroline, chill, relax, _and breathe_. You're going to die eventually if you don't breathe. And it's alright, I get that all the time since the moment I set foot here in Mystic Falls. We're actually enjoying tricking other people. I get to know a few stuff about Elena, she gets to know a few stuff about me. It's all good, we're both mutual, everything's fine." I held her shoulders and tried to gently pull her down, and talk her into calming the hell out of her hysterics. I began telling her to take deep breaths, and luckily she did as I told her. After a few seconds, she was back to normal again, a huge smile with narrow pink lips, and eyes that smiled along with the world. "Now that's the Caroline we all know and love."

"Thanks. Oh, I forgot, I promised to have a dance with Matt. It's not always you get to go to a golden masquerade ball wearing a beautiful dress and get to dance with the man of your dreams. Why don't you find someone to dance with?" She pursued me into finding the perfect dance partner, as she gently elbowed me on the ribs. I laughed with her and just began pushing her away.

"No, I'm alright. I'm out on the hunt for Elena and Stefan anyway. I've been looking for them since I got off the stage. With this big wave of crowds surrounding me, I could hardly even see who's who." I whispered as I exaggeratingly waved my hands to my sides, gesturing to the huge crowd in the room. "I think _you_ should have the time of your life with Matt. We don't' get to live forever." I added and she smiled. She gave me one last and final hug and disappeared through the colorful crowd that pranced and danced around the room.

The golden lighted chandelier glowed as I made my way through the thick crowd again, hoping I could see any sign of Stefan and Elena. There was one couple that looked like them, but the girl wasn't wearing a peach sequined halter gown. I spotted another pair, but their masks were entirely different. Finding Elena and Stefan in this huge crowd was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and I didn't mean that as a simile, a hyperbole, or any other figure of speech. It was _literally_ the truth. I spun around and around uncountable times, maybe 15 or 16, and I didn't find them till' I reached the 23rd spin. And figuratively, I didn't find them, they found me. I turned at the familiar voice of my identical cousin, and her boyfriend as he applauded me. I approached them silently.

"And there's the girl with the golden voice." Stefan acknowledged, clapping his hands out in front of him, his face smeared with delight. "I didn't know such a small girl could have a big voice. If you were to ask me, I wouldn't even recognize the voice unless I see which girl it came out from. You really have talent."

"Well, Elaine's the one to brag, she just doesn't brag her _singing_ that much. And it's always been her talent to sing. She's been singing since we were 5-years-old. I was out picking flowers while she jumped on the coffee table and began singing her heart out to Michael Jackson's music." My cousin boasted out with pride. I've never seen her this way before. As if she just turned off her other side and let her inner _yang_ do all the talking. I grinned and opened my mouth again.

"Inspiration can come from anywhere, at any given time, so I've got to be prepared with the right instruments to get it down. Whether it's a memory I need to write down in a journal, a moment I need to photograph in a camera, a song I need to compose on the piano, _anything_. I make sure I'm ready for it when it comes, because it may just blow away like the wind, or flow away like the water." I said in a soft voice, quiet enough for other not to hear, but loud enough for them to hear it clearly. Elena's eyes flickered toward me and I gave her a weak smile. I was so inspired tonight that I wanted to do another song, only this time, I didn't know what that song would be. I gave a loud sigh as the long and awkward silence between the three of us consumed the atmosphere.

"I think that's all I got for tonights _'Words of Wisdom: Brought to you by Ms. Elaine Gilbert'_. Oh, and speaking of winds and water, would you excuse me for a moment. I need to go to the restroom. Do you know where it could be?"

"Oh, just beyond that hallway, pass by the patio and the 2nd door to the right's the girl's bathroom." She smiled at me and Stefan did the same. I gathered up my skirt and began striding across the floor. I was brisk walking and I could feel the pressure on my thighs and my hamstrings. The dress was a complete workout, wearing it. Before I got through the entrance of the hallway into the shadows of the dark night, I was already sweating. I could feel myself sweat bullets as I ran further along the hallway. It was a long and wide corridor consumed by the darkness as the chandelier's golden light only lit the main ballroom. It was dark and nothing lit the hallway except for the light of the moon and the stars right outside the patio. And that's when my eyes were caught in such bewilderment and beauty that I can't take them off the wonderful sight.

My path was distracted as I saw the magnificence of the multicolored flowers and plants surrounding the perfectly stoned center of the patio. And just there, in the middle, was a beautiful tiled fountain with cerulean blue water rushing out of it. The shadows of the night may have consumed half the color of this beautiful Eden, but beneath the moonlight glow, I could still see the colors and the blurred images of the fountain, the wild plantations and the stone benches around the circular center. I was so enthralled that I hadn't realized I was slowly drawn to circle the garden.

I admired every moment I had with nature till' a sudden snap of twigs distracted me from my train of thought. What was that? I turned around reflexively to check what had happened, and when I twisted my head around, nothing was there, not even air. I ignored the coincidental creepy sounds that happened behind me, thinking that it was just my supernatural and creative imagination playing pranks on me, till' it happened again, only this time it was the rustling of leaves. I instinctively turned around again, and as I've checked before, still nothing was there, and this time I knew I heard something. My eyes just kept on moving from side to side, observing every inch. I saw something move in the bushes, which was followed by a loud booming thud on the concrete wall on the other side of patio that was out of my view. And I overreacted. I ran as fast as I could to the bathroom which was luckily just a few running strides from where I was standing. I finally got a chance to take a deep breath when I knew that I was in the safety of the bathroom.


	10. Chapter 9: Question

**Chapter 9****: **Questions

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE***:**

_Okay, 2__nd__ author's note and I ask for you guys to __**READ THIS ONE**__ if you want to know a little bit about me and my _disease_. I have the unavoidable tendency of wanting to make my stories _literate_, detailed, and incredibly _**LONG**_**. **__I mean with every paragraph, I've always had the thought that it should at least be 3 lines long. It's a disease and I _hate_ it. Well, forgive me. Please enjoy this chapter_. READ RATE REVIEW!

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**Damon's POV**

"What are you keeping from me, Stefan?"

"I'm keeping _nothing_ from you, Damon. And even if I _was_, I bet you would already figure it out." Stefan roughly explained as she held Elena wrapped in his right arm. I raised my eyebrows at him and stared deep into his eyes that lack emotion. I was kind of wondering why he was hiding something from me, and was it important enough for him not to tell me? And that's what drew me to think about what happened a while ago, when Elena came to the boarding house.

The moment practically replayed on my mind: _I'm here looking for Stefan. I just wanted to tell him something important. It's kind of a plan for tonight's main event._ I tried to gather up all the information I can get and fit all the pieces on my head to figure out the jigsaw puzzle. Elena came to the boarding house and asked if Stefan was home to tell him something _important_, about 'something' that would happen _tonight_. I'm not entirely sure if the performance that happened a while ago was what she considered as _'tonight's main event'_, but if it was, it meant that it involved the 'Juliet' girl that Elena and Stef were just talking to.

"Believe what you want Damon, there's nothing going on." Elena protested as she grabbed onto Stefan's arm tighter.

"Oh, isn't there? Well, if you don't want to tell me what's going on, maybe I could just, I don't know, talk that girl you were talking to into telling me stuff." I menacing smirk crept to my face as I leaned in to both of them closely. I watched how Elena's face shifted from nervous to _uneasy_. I could see her eyes flickering in disbelief that I would even try and manipulate her into telling me the truth.

"You're not gonna go near her, Damon." She ordered in a commanding voice. She pulled away from Stefan and took a few steps toward me with her hands balled up in fists. I placed my hands on her shoulders and squeezed them carefully. As I expected, Stefan, being as he is, defensively took a step and a low growl built in his throat. I rolled my eyes and left my hands on Elena's shoulders.

"Easy, Stef, no one's killing anybody. I swear. If there were any lives lost tonight _via_ vampires, it'll be on me." I turned to Elena after sending my message to Stefan. "And Ms. Elena, I just want to ask you one question. _What is she_ that makes you overly defensive enough to threaten me? Hmm? What is she to you? Just a friend, I don't think so. Are you gonna tell me what she is, or do you want me to double the pain you'll feel when something happens to her?" And in a flash, Stefan got a hold of my neck and eventually my back was flat on the wall. He had a hand around my neck I knew what was coming for me next. The people began turning their heads to our direction with gasps. _'Why are these brothers fighting?' _I could see pure fury behind Stefan's green eyes, and I'm pretty sure he could also notice the arrogance and bore hidden beneath mine.

"If you ever threaten her again, I swear, I'm going to _kill _you." The pressure on his hands choking me was enough to kill a human. "Are you really sure you want to go through with this again?"

"No Stefan, I don't want to go through with this again, but I'm pretty sure you don't either, not in here anyways." I removed his hand softly from my neck and straightened up my face. I looked behind me to see that there was a small dent and a crack on the wall. _What a damage, Stefan._ I thought and looked back at him. His fury started to fade. I fixed my shirt and put my arm around his shoulder, and as I've expected, he shrugged it off.

"Come on Stef, I was just kidding with the whole threatening thing. I would do _no such thing_ to hurt Elena that much. I'm just playing _the game_. You gotta play the game if you wanna win the price. And seriously, people are watching."

"I don't care, if you threaten her again, I swear, may it be real or fake, I will make sure you won't do anything like that again."

"Sure, sure." We carefully walked back to Elena's before this news goes to Carol. I saw Elena's face appear behind other covered faces under colored masks. I saw the anger in her chocolate brown eyes. I casually walked back to her with my hands in my pocket. Stefan was ahead of me and as soon as the space between him and Elena were close enough, they shared one, long kiss right before my eyes, _again_. I felt my forehead crumple and I didn't know why. I could feel something in my stomach that felt like as if there was someone that drove a silver knife right inside me. Was I jealous? No, I couldn't be. I don't _do_ jealous. Not with her, not for Katherine, not for _anyone_. Their lips parted and Elena faced me.

"She's Bonnie's cousin, that's why I couldn't jeopardize her identity with you." She told me, tongue tied. Oh, so that girl with the golden voice was the Bennett witch's cousin. Whoa, she looked more appealing than Bonnie. I guess cause' she doesn't give me a constant headache whenever she's around. I raised my eyebrows at Elena and she continued her explanation.

"I don't want you meeting her because _you_ might blow everything off, and _we_, Stefan, Bonnie and I, think that she's one of Emily's descendants who were given powers. We don't want her knowing about herself cause' she might do something _horribly_ stupid with all the stuff."

"So, let me get things straight, the girl you were just talking to was the _witch's cousin_. And you don't want her to know about me cause' I might expose to her what she really is? Well, I just have a few things to say: One, how could you think so low of me? I wouldn't blow off a secret like that. I mean, I would, but for the right diabolical reason, but…" I paused as she crossed her arms on her chest. I continued, "Anyway, that's one. Two, why would you even think I would expose the secret to her? If she figures out she's a witch, then that would double my _headache_ when she gets pissed off. I won't let her have that chance." And Elena just rolled her eyes.

"I don't want you anywhere near her, understand? I don't want her to know, I don't want you and Stefan to fight, and I don't want you to have those witch-caused headaches you get. Things will get messed up, and she's all too new to this. Think about what Katherine might do if she finds out about her. It will destroy Bonnie, which will make me blame you, and we'll eventually have you destroyed. All those things will only happen if you talk to her, so my advice to you is _don't_."

"Oh, will I? Who are you, Katherine? I'm not afraid of you, and I do whatever it is that fits to what _I_ want." I smirked and brushed my fingers on her face. She immediately swiped my hand away and it fell to my side. But despite everything that I have done to piss her off, she could still handle not being furious enough to damn me to the deepest pit of hell. _Yeah right, like I wasn't going there already_. She looked over her left shoulder and I saw Stefan nod to her direction. She put her hands on either side of my face and stepped closer.

"Why are you doing this, Damon? Why do you want to let the past repeat itself? I don't want to hate you, and I'm pretty sure Stefan doesn't want to hate you too, cause' you're his older brother. But doing this, it all counteracts everything you've done to make you a better person. You make me _not_ want to forgive you. You make me want to _not_ have you as a friend. Why do you want that?" She asked me with a tinge of disappointment as her voice broke. I could see the desperation of change in her eyes that just begged me for a sudden change of heart. I sighed and closed my eyes as I gently removed her hands from my face.

"I'm not a good guy, Elena. There were just a couple of times that got the best of me, and it made me think otherwise. I'm not a hero. I try to be, but it's not for me. I'm sorry, Elena." I gave her warms hands a gentle squeeze before setting them down gently. I got away as fast as I could, striding along the crowds of people. I thought about where she could've been, but I was too self-absorbed at trying to figure out what she was that I forgot to see where she went to when she disappeared. That's when I heard lone footsteps walking in an echo-filled hallway. Her heels clicked on the floor, and I think I know where she might be.

I followed the sound of her footsteps as I glided through the dance floor, to the hallway leading to the Lockwood's Patio. It was a long corridor and I observed everything I heard and saw. The music's noise became lower and lower, until everything was silent, except for the chirping of the crickets. Then, I heard a heartbeat echoing right at the end of the hallway. The beating got louder as I took steps forward, lurking behind the shadows at the other side of the patio. I was so close that I heard her breathing, and her gasps and sighs of awe. That's when I suddenly saw _her_.

Her hair was a dazzling dark brown that fell in waves behind her back and on either side of her shoulders. They weren't straight tresses, and they weren't curly too. It was just right in between. Half of her face was disguised by the enigmatic red mask that was covered with lace and sequins, with a peacock's feather for additional design. It matched her dress in the shade of _blood_, quite an intriguing color, isn't it? It made her look pale under the moonlight, especially with burgundy red lips dipped in the rosiest of shades. She brushed her fingers against the marble fountain in the middle of the patio, as she wore a small smile on her lips. I observed her from an unseen distance. I couldn't admit it myself, but she looked… _interesting_.

I took a step forward and unfortunately, I stepped on a branch. It made a snap, and in reflex action, she turned around. I had to avoid her sight so I immediately moved to another spot where I could see her closer. She seemed to ignore the noise, but she went back to admiring her surroundings. She took a spin and gazed at the stars. As her neck tilted up, I couldn't manage to _not_ notice her perfectly flawless _neck_. It was tempting, as I could hear her pulse from right here, beating from her carotid artery. It was one small move for me, she wouldn't even know anything, but as to what Elena warned me… I won't do it.

Right behind the bushes, my eyes trailed down from her neck, to her collar bones, then to her chest. She wore a silver necklace with a letter _E_ on it, and a familiar flower dangled from it. Or should I say… _herb_. That girl was wearing a necklace with fresh _vervain_ on it. It was still lavender and I could smell it from here. She had _vervain_, and that could only mean one thing: Someone who knew about vampires gave _that_ to her, and I think I've got an idea on who it is.

My mind trailed to Stefan, and Elena, being sneaky behind my back, hiding things about '_Bonnie's Cousin'_. They tried to keep me away from her. I remembered what Elena told me a while ago when I threatened to harm the girl. _Juliet_ was it, her stage name. Stefan and Elena kept on devising plans to keep me away from her, and even gave her some vervain in _utter_ desperation. It boiled my undead blood.

I took another step forward, but something hard crashed into me and shoved me to the far concrete wall on the other side of the patio that was covered with oak trees and thick bushes. It stung my back as it made contact with the wall. I heard the girl's heartbeat speed up, and eventually her footsteps and her ragged breathing. The door of the nearby bathroom closed and I lost her.

Then it made me focus on what had hit me. It was something hard. It was something _inhuman_. It was her. I stared into deep brown eyes under a black laced mask with a red flower at the side. Curly brown locks fell from either side of her face. Light pink lips smirked menacingly, as she pressed her body towards mine, gentle, but firm as it kept me from turning away from her. And yes, I did mean _her_. I can't believe she returned.

"Hi Damon, I'm back." It was Katherine.


	11. Chapter 10: The Ring and The Stake

**Chapter 10**: The Ring and The Stake

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE***:**

_**RATED M**__ for __**LANGUAGE**__ and Katherine's __**INAPPROPRIATE BODY MOVEMENTS**__. Rated __**DEEP**__ for Damon's __**longing**__ side and his interest in that _**Juliet**_ girl who just sang on stage. It's in __**Katherine's POV**__. A lot of __**Damon pushed to a wall with someone's hand on his neck as a threat**__ moments, and more __**death threats**__ from Katherine herself. _**ENJOY!**

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**Katherine's POV**

"What are you doing here, Katherine?" He asked me with a serious look in his light blue eyes. He looked utterly repulsed by my presence. Well, that's what you get when you get confronted by an ex who fell in love with your younger brother.

"You know how things are nowadays. It would be me arriving, talking with Stefan, leaving after I threaten someone and, coming back with _another_ big surprise." I pressed against him and brushed one well manicured finger on his right cheek. "I've practically done that thrice now, and I've just accomplished arriving and talking with Stefan. The next thing on my list is _threatening_ someone before disappearing once again."

"Unfortunately, you appeared on my radar. I guess I'd have to settle with you." And he became perplexed. I could see his forehead crumpling in complete incomprehension. I choked a low giggle and stroked his nose with my finger, finally landing on his perfect lips. "Aw, someone had a hard time understanding that statement."

"I spent the _whole_ afternoon with Stefan, if you don't already know. I tried to keep him company. Elena wasn't capable of making him feel intense emotions like what I _made_ him feel just a while ago. He still couldn't accept the fact that he was in love with me." I laughed incorrigibly. I felt his body shift and he looked uneasy under my arms. That's when I remembered:

"Oh, I'm sorry, Damon. How inconsiderate of me? Thinking that you've already moved on from the past¾"

"There's nothing to move on from. There's nothing to be jealous of. Your love was a lie, and everything that went with it, everything that happened in the past, they're _nothing _to me now. I've disregarded it all. I feel _nothing_ for you anymore. You don't have to pretend that you're in need of me. You just want to get to Stefan." He looked me right in the eyes and slowly overpowered me, leaning closer and closer until his lips were right adjacent to my ear. "You're nothing but a manipulative and nasty little _bitch_." And he began walking away.

I felt a low and husky growl escape from my throat. My teeth barred and I immediately moved swiftly to get a hold of his neck and forced him back to the wall. My breathing turned to loudly uneven snarls coming out from my throat, as I put pressure on my grip on his neck, he didn't even flinch. "Why is everyone pushing me to a wall with their hands around my neck? What's so appealing about my throat?"

"What a bitter little bastard, you are?" I muttered under clenched teeth. "It's like you don't even know what you are, you incompetent little hypocrite. It's like you don't do the same things to get what you want, as if you're not as much as a bitch as me."

"Well, I learned from the best." He added sarcastically. I tilted my head sideward and I think he caught me off guard. In one brisk move, we changed positions. He was on top with both of his hands on either side of my head, firm and flat on the wall, leaving me no space for escape, which was totally unnecessary for I was much older, and _stronger_ that he will ever be. His lower body pressed to me and my hands were on his chest. There was so much intensity in our eyes that in a moment I just knew what would happen.

"What are you doing here?" He bowed his head down to reach for my lips. I felt his him brush his on mine. "Answer the question." He added, teasing me with his overly compelling strength of sexual intentions. I leaned in to meet his lips, till' he avoided it.

"I've already told you the answer a while ago, and I think it's time for you to answer mine." He looked down and narrowed his eyes toward mine. "What are _you_ doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be inside, either drinking your grief away in the bar, picking up a fight with those werewolf gene infested Lockwoods, menacing Stefan's life, or picking up a girl and bringing her into the shadows?" And he became appalled with my utterly rude choices. And I laughed, "No wait, you already did the fourth thing, only this time, you didn't even _compel _her into doing it. She isolated herself."

"You're not stalking that _Juliet_ girl are you?" And it seems that I caught him off guard as well, since it was easy enough for me to trap him in between my arms once again. I giggled and took a deep breath, smirking as I listened in. "She's in the bathroom, washing her hands. I could hear her heartbeat from here. I guess I know why she caught your interest as much. Want me to bring her out? I could pretend I'm Elena for you." I smiled and stroked his cheek. He slapped my hand away and placed a hand on my neck.

"You're _not_ gonna go near her, Katherine."

"Aw, why not? I was already planning everything I'm about to do. I think I'm going to enjoy her. I heard that people with beautiful voices have throats as juicy as a rib eyed steak." I pouted my lips and whispered to him as I got a hold of his hand which was clinging to my neck, and stroke his whole arm. But then, I felt his anger. His hand clutched my throat tighter and tighter until I could hardly make up words. He pushed me toward the wall forcibly and I saw every bit of his frustration with me.

"I told you, you will _not_ go near her." How defensive of him, for someone who doesn't even know him, for someone who doesn't know that he exists. _Especially_ for someone who doesn't know _what_ he really is?

"Why do you even care, Damon? You're nothing to her, she's not even aware that she's being followed by an obtuse psychopath whose long term goal was to _find me_, and help me escape the tomb, when apparently, I wasn't even in there." I added and his face got even more frustrated. I could see the corners of his mouth pull down in a scowl. I know he felt the pang of the words that just stabbed him in the chest repeatedly, and I know that it was some tough criticism coming from an ex, but he had to know the truth.

I felt his grip on my throat lighten which gave me a chance to take a deep breath. My eyes glazed close and opened after few seconds, "Face it Damon, no one really wants you in this town. You're nothing but a fly in everyone's soup, and even _I_ don't think that that girl's really interested in bloodsucking Casanovas." My eyes interlocked with his and everything got a lot more intense. He hardly got the words in his head, and he wasn't even able to mutter them out.

"Look who's speechless? Well, her song did say everything. I'll never talk again, I'll _never_ love again. _You left me speechless_. Hearing the whole truth I was thinking of after a century and a half of denial must be overwhelming, isn't it Damon?"

"Stop it!" He growled and began clenching his hands into a fist. _I can't take it anymore_! Our faces were an inch away, I could hear him grit his teeth, and his arms shake violently. "Keep… on… talking… and… I'll… snap… your… neck…" His voice was in a low and husky tone. Looking into his unfathomable light blue eyes filled with fury, I figured he wasn't joking.

"What is she to you Damon?" I asked in between chokes. "And what would you do to stop me from doing the _unthinkable_?"

"This." And his hand left my throat and held my hand. In a split second, he got a hold of my ring. Then he withdrew his arm back and _threw_ the ring into space. It disappeared in the atmosphere, behind the ebony dark sky. Damon threw my _Lapis Lazuli _ring away, and that was the only thing that hindered me from walking in the day. I can't believe he just did that.

In complete resentment, I went to a nearby tree and snapped a branch away. I ran back to Damon and drove the severed branch in his lower abdomen. He groaned in complete agony and I kneed him in the stomach. When he fell to the ground, I stepped my stiletto's heel on his hand. "You will regret that you did that, Damon. I will make _sure_, that that Juliet girl will _die_ a painful, true death… in my hands." And when I was about to disappear to find my ring, I took one final and power-filled kick to Damon. Another loud boom echoed and when I followed where he landed, I saw that he was far back on the other side of the patio.

I growled in certain frustration and disappeared before he got a chance to open his eyes again. I swear that if I find that ring, I'm going to _murder_ him.


	12. Chapter 11: The Painful Meeting

**Chapter 11****: **The Painful Meeting

**Damon's POV**

_That little bitch will surely pay for this_, my thoughts screamed at me as I tried composing myself. The severed branch was still driven _deep_ into my abdomen and it panged me to feel the semi-stake to the chest. My body ached as if I was just hit by a gigantic bulldozer, to the _nuts_. My head hurt, my body hurt, everything was _agonizingly painful_.

I tried to stand up, straight and erect, but my body just won't hold my weight up. I had to lean on the concrete wall for support. I grabbed the stake that was far driven in my abdomen and gave it a strong pull. Eventually, it withdrew from my body, but I could still feel tiny splinters puncturing my skin.

I touched my abdomen as I threw the branch on the ground. I felt my face turn into a scowl as I groaned in _hell_. This hurt more than having to press a ripe vervain herb to my face. I felt a sting when I touched my open wound, and I looked down to my hands to see that I was bleeding heavily. It went through my shirt, and through my black vest, leaving bloodstains on them. I can't believe my clothes are ruined.

I stretched my neck from side to side as I heard crackling sounds when I did that, and even decided to crack my knuckles a little bit. I shook off all the bad energy I knew had happened. I tried walking in a straight pattern, and apparently it worked. From the patio to the hallway, I made my way to the ballroom slowly, thinking of how I could get a costume change, when I heard another steps of footsteps behind me, and when I turned around, it was a little something I've expected.

It was Bonnie's cousin, heading right back to the patio where she was scared off a while ago. _That girl never learns, does she? She's a _very_ persistent person. That is interesting_. I whispered to myself as I turned on my heel and walked back slowly to the patio and introduce myself, but with the constant worry of not being able to present myself in the most appropriate of attire took over half of my brains thought process. I limply walked along the whole corridor again, ready to have her in my _arms_, and she was _this_ close, when suddenly another physical force blocked me from doing what I had wished.

"Where do you think you're going, Damon?" I heard a high and pitchy familiar voice ring behind me, I know that voice from anywhere, because that's the exact person who owns the _migraine-causing_ headaches that emotionally and mentally scar me for _life_. I turned around hesitantly with a scowl on my face. She looked stunning under the dim lighting, yet she still makes me remember that I _did_ want to kill her. She crossed her arms defensively on her chest.

"Wow, you look like a mess. Have you been feeding on the innocent lately?" Bonnie took a few steps forward, in her bright blue gown. "Or has it been the opposite?"

"What do you want, witch? I'm not really in the _right_ mood."

"Aw, bad evening, little Damon? Or did you just realize how much of an asshole you are when you saw yourself on the mirror?" She added sarcastically, her hands crossed on her chest. I placed my hands on my pocket and took a few paces towards her.

"Actually, I had this conversation with a werewolf, which was _totally_ out of the question. And then, I threatened Elena to her _very _core while Stefan had his hands around my neck, _threatening_ to end me when I do that again. I also had this brutal face-to-face with a bitter ex who never got what she wanted, so my answer to your question probably is yes."

"A confrontation with a bitter ex, huh? That must have been… a _blood-filled _battle for dominance," She stared at my abdomen where the bloodstains appeared on my clothes. "Especially with two bloodsucking vampires."

"That's avoiding the question. Now tell me, why are _you_ out here?" I shot back irritably, rolling my eyes at her. "Don't tell me you're out _stalking_ me? What, are you trying to know whether I'm drinking out of someone you know, or just a plain old sorority girl from the local university?"

"Well, to be frank, I _am_ doing just that." And she caught me off guard with her satiable answer. I widened my eyes and then narrowed them in confusion. "Elena and Stefan _warned_ me to watch over you, and I _freely_ took it as an opportunity. Elena's too _fragile_ to deal with you, Stefan's too _related_ to you, and Caroline's too _unstable_, so I figured I might be the perfect one to do the job." She shrugged and raised her eyebrows after her lengthy speech. "I do have the talent of making vampire drop with one look." She smirked at her own thoughts, and I scoffed.

"As if? You know you're migraine-giving powers have nothing compared to what _I _could do. We both know I could snap your neck without a second thought, and yet why am I _not_ doing it? For you? No. I'm doing this for Elena¾" And I flinched at my own words. I couldn't believe that I just said that aloud. _I'm doing this for Elena_, my thoughts whispered back to me repeatedly. I shook them from my head.

"And I'm really going to believe that you actually _care_ for her. We all know that _you_ crave _nothing_ but hot blood circulating in people's veins. You'd do _anything_ to get what you want, and not even your _regards_ for Elena would stop you from doing the unjustifiable." Her bitter words cut me deep but I was too frustrated with her that it actually covered any track of my emotions.

In a blink of an eye, I was in front of her and we were only a few inches away from each other. The silk cloth of his gown touched me, and I knew I was only one moved from _snapping_ _her neck_. I heard her heartbeat increase in speed. She was nervous and I could feel her _fear_ radiate off of her body.

"You're out here asking me what I'm up to, well I've got a better question: _What are you doing out here all alone by yourself, Damon?_" She asked me interrogatively. Her eyebrows rose and she bit her lip, waiting impatiently for an answer, but even before I could open my mouth, she had already interrupted me.

"Don't tell me you're stalking that girl over there?" She turned her head to the right, where the open patio was located. If our voices got any louder, I knew that _Juliet_, if that is her real name, would hear us at any moment. There was complete silence between the two of us which gave me a slight amount of time to observe if she _was_ listening in. I could hear her heartbeat in the air, but I also did hear the sloshing of water. I imagined her sitting by the fountain, and playing with water, a beautiful smile on her face and…

I shook those thoughts out of my head, and the little witch interrupted my thoughts once again. "So, are you?" I looked at her hesitantly and immediately answered back.

"Of course not. I have _better_ things to do than terrorize a girl in a masquerade ball." I lied. "And, there are other, _much_ hotter girls in this place. Why would you even _think_ that I'd stop with that one?" A smirk spread to my face and waggled my eyebrows in reply. She doubted the fact that came out of my mouth, thinking twice whether it was the truth, or was just another scam to take her off my back. She was smart to pause before answering back, but her answer took me by surprise.

"Why would you?" She answered my question with a question herself. "Answer _that_ question, Damon. Out of all the other girls, why her?" And I was speechless. For once, I didn't know what to say, or what to answer back. My jaw hung open at her question. She began pacing around me. _This girl is good_, another thought conjured up my head. My forehead crumpled in the attempt to think of a better answer, but if I could just rack my brain without her noticing, I think I probably would.

"I think I know why." She continued her monologue. "I have three answers to choose from. One, I think you _saw_ her perform on that stage, and you probably think that she has the most _wonderful_ and _golden_ voice you've ever heard in a century. Two, I think, you saw how open she was to her cousin, and how much of an extrovert she was to everyone. And three, I think you gained interest in her."

"In other words: _Has Damon Salvatore fallen in love at first sight with this mystery girl?_" It was her final statement before concluding her hypothesis in this situation. It was hard to convince myself that she might be… _correct,_ but not about the _love at first sight_ observation. She was right about those three answers she conjured up in her head.

She did _catch_ my attention when she sang on that stage. She did _draw_ me toward her when I saw how she communicated with people. It was her charm, how it reminded me of my past, and how different people were back then. And finally, I did _gain_ interest in her, I didn't know how, I didn't know why. All I know is that _I did_.

I hesitantly fought with myself inside my thoughts as Bonnie finally stopped pacing and stared at me with eyes that just begged for the truth. "Just admit it, Damon."

I just knew that I didn't want to admit any of _this_ to her. I wasn't even sure if these were what I was _really_ feeling. There was a mixture of emotions in me, and I didn't know what I would do with it. Was I furious that Katherine just came here to stab a stake through my heart? Was I irritated at Bonnie's presence at the moment? Was I filled with guilt when I saw Elena's face just begging me to stop reliving my past behaviors? Was I _curious_ about the girl I've recently discovered?

Everything was a mess in my mind that I hardly knew what to do. I just narrowed my eyes and connected them with her. I studied the expression on her face, and with that, her heart rate sped up again. This time, I disregarded that simple observation.

"You might not want to push yourself, Wiccan." I brushed my hand on her neck and she withdrew from my touch. There was a sudden shift in the air, and a weird change in the atmosphere. The lights flickered, and her eyes narrowed. _This is not good_, I thought to myself. I tilted my head as I watched her, and just when I wasn't expecting it, I felt a sharp and stinging pain struck me.

It was the migraine she knew that would make me drop to my knees. It was so _agonizingly painful_ that I could actually not find it in me to think _clearly_. A loud groan escaped from my throat and in a figured, I fell on my knees and I curled in pain right below Bonnie's feet. She just stared at me and I felt the hurt grow, from painful to just unbelievably _unbearable_.

My hands went up to my head which held my temples. My breathing became uneven and I heard grunts come out from me. I could barely even make up the words I had to say, but I just knew I had to say something that would make the pain stop. So I grumbled the words that I just thought would make everything pause for a moment.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry." I said in between growls. I twisted and turned on the ground as Bonnie just continued staring me down. I know this was my fault, but I just couldn't control myself at the moment. It held all of the pain inside of me, not wanting to let out a miserable scream, but when she finally gave all her best to make sure that it was seemingly and unbearably filled with _torment_. I finally let myself go and gave a long howl that would still probably be drowned out by the music inside the ballroom.

I shut my eyes tightly and crumpled on floor, this was too _much_!

"Bonnie! What are you doing?" I heard Elena's loud and frantic voice, and her footsteps running towards me. I managed to open my eyes just a little bit, and saw blood red silk flowing on the floor. Last time I remembered, Elena was wearing a floral peach colored ensemble. Maybe I was hallucinating. The excruciating pain Bonnie made me feel was enough to drive people to the verge of their sanity.

"Why aren't you helping him?" Her voice continued to echo in the vacuous corridor. I rolled on my back to view who was conversing over my limp body. My eyes opened a little bit more and they began making out figures. Bonnie was staring me down with an impenetrable glare, and the girl who sang, and the one who sounded like _Elena_. It begged me to wonder, why did _she_ sound like Elena, when apparently she was Bonnie's cousin? Did Elena just _lie_ to me?

"Oh my God, Bonnie, he's bleeding!" She knelt on her knees and then laid her hands on my chest. She got up and placed her hands on Bonnie's shoulders, and shook her violently, back and forth. "What the hell, Bonnie!" And the pain suddenly subsided.

I opened my eyes fully, still recovering from the violent headache the Bennett _Bitch_ gave me. Bonnie and the girl stared at each other for a long while, and then Bonnie faced me. She muttered something under her breath which was too low for a normal human to hear, but was definitely caught in my ear shot. "I will finish you later." And then she exchanged another quick and hateful glance with Juliet, turning her back to me and ran back to the ballroom.

"Bonnie! Get back here! You need to help him!" Her high pitched voice echoed once more in the hallway. Then, she turned to face me. She was glowing under the dimness of the moonlight, and the darkness that consumed half of the corridor we were in. She placed her right hand on her head, weighing the options in her head, and then, she finally knelt down to my side.

"Are you alright, sir?" She asked me with voice as sweet and as pure as honey. She _did_ sound like Elena, and not only her, but also Katherine. She had that soft velvety tone in her voice, but her eyes sparked with curiosity and fierceness, and the will to be _free_. I could tell that she was a mixture of sugar, and spice. Not as tame as a domesticated cat, nor as wild as a bloodthirsty tiger. The mask covered half of her face, but from the looks of it, she had something in common with both Elena and Katherine, though I still couldn't put my finger on it.


	13. Chapter 12: I'm Damon Salvatore

**Chapter 12: **I'm Damon Salvatore

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE*****

_Dudes! I just recently noticed that Elaine's name was half __**El**__en__**a**__ and half Kather__**ine**__, both with three letters each. I actually didn't notice it until now. LOL. I am so stupid. Well, this is the 12th__ chapter and look what happens when __**Damon **__and __**Elaine**__ communicate. Guys! Don't forget to __**REVIEW**__, even if it only has __**1 word**__ in it. I __**LIVE **__for you reviews._

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**Elaine's POV**

He was unbelievably gorgeous. No, not even gorgeous could make up how he looked like. He was _handsome_, _exquisitely good-looking_ and _perfect_ at the same time, and that was what _I_ thought even under his mask. That's why I didn't want to be around him without Bonnie around, even if he, this guy over here, might not want to have her around. He might catch me staring at him, and nobody would be around to knock me out of it.

His eyes, they were a nice shade of pale blue and they raked deep into mine. His nose was perfect, along with his flawlessly symmetrical jaw. His hair was slightly long, reaching up to his ears and they were messed in a way as if the wind blew violently against his face. Then my eyes trailed down from his face to his chest, perfectly toned under his white button up shirt, and the black vest that came on top. From his chest, I looked at the bloodstains on his shirt, and that's when I remembered that he was in agony a while ago. I just knew that I had to make a move.

I moved my arms around, still unsure where to touch him, and unsure whether he wanted to be touched, so I just hovered my hands over him, frantically thinking of what to do. I repeated my question a while ago, and this time, I was focusing on his wound. "Sir, Are you alright?"

He tried sitting up, but he let out a painful groan. His hand went to his wound, and then he hissed when his hand made contact with his cut. Every single sound that came out from him made me flinch. Those were one of my diseases. I could feel people's pain and their agony, just by the sound and by the look of what happened. I can't take this pain anymore, so I held my hand out in an offer for him to grab, and he hesitantly did.

I pulled him up with all my strength and with all my effort, but he seemed to stand up easier than expected. His knees faltered to carry his weight, and he almost pulled me down on the ground with him, but instead, his body just pushed me to the post and trapped me in between his arms. My eyes blinked rapidly and my breathing quickened in pace when our faces were inches apart. I was about to ask him if he was alright again, for the third time, but he silenced me with his finger to my lips. His eyes connected with mine and he spoke.

"Shh… I'm alright. You don't have to ask me again." His voice was low and smooth, like velvet and silk. He took a few paces back and then touched his wound again, this time, nothing came out from him, but I still winced. It took me a few moments to register in my brain on what he just said, but when I finally got the words to form, I said them immediately.

"You were just writhing on the ground in agony, and you have an open wound that's gushing out from your body. You're going to expect me to believe that you're _alright_?" I said in between pauses. He paced carefully back and forth with his hands around his back, and stopped to look at me after my statement.

"Look, I'm fine. I'm standing upright, I'm not experiencing any _dizzy spells_, and I'm not _writhing_ in agony anymore. Don't I look alright to you?" He said, raising his arms defensively on his sides.

And for once, I didn't know what I was going to do. He said that he _was_ alright, but I could see from the looks of his physical well-being and the blood on his shirt that he _wasn't_. What am I going to believe? I unsurely fought with my inner self, thinking of what I could do, that's when I finally decided on something. Hey, I'm Elaine Gilbert, and I _trust_ my instincts. I walked forward and grabbed one of his arms and started pacing towards the bathroom.

"Well, you don't. Let's go." I said in a stern voice and we continued taking strides till we reached the _Male's_ bathroom door. I saw his expression when we entered the bathroom. _What's she doing?_ Well, I'm actually doing this for his welfare. I knew guys didn't want to be caught in a ladies bathroom, so I'm guessing how bout' we'd do it the _men's_ way. I shoved him carefully to the other end of the bathroom and then placed my hands on my waist.

"Take of your shirt." I added, motioning my fingers for him to strip. He must have taken it in a wrong way. His eyebrows arched up, and a devilish and mischievous smirk spread on his face. His eyes sparkled under the golden light of the incandescent bulb in the bathroom in interest. He began unbuttoning his vest and his shirt in a slow paced matter.

"Aren't we eager?" He whispered and even did it slower. I scoffed loudly and crossed my arms over my chest. I should've guessed that people with such symmetrical faces could have heads as big as a boulder. They're overly arrogant, and think most highly of themselves.

"Actually, I'm here to give you first aid and to wash your shirt." I shot back. "And, could you go a little faster. You're really destroying my momentum over here." I tapped my foot on the ground impatiently. He finally got his vest off, and now he's unbuttoning his shirt. I grabbed the vest from his hands and then placed it on the sink. I turned the faucet on and let the vest soak in it for a while, just to loosen the blood's grip on the fabric. Every time I bowed my head down to scratch the vest's cloth, my hair wouldn't seem to cooperate. It would fall down in front of my face, and I'm actually getting a little irritated with it.

"Could I borrow your mask for a second?" I asked the stranger and he hesitantly stared at me. "No more questions from you, just give it." I couldn't believe myself on how rude that came out from my mouth. I saw his eyes roll from behind his mask. His hands left the buttons on his shirt and immediately reached up to his face to remove the mask. And I was star struck.

I can't believe he was a lot more beautiful and perfect that what I thought he was. I blinked a couple of times in disbelief. Is it possible for anyone to be this good looking and _not_ be a model or an actor? The last person I saw that had a face as perfect as this would either be _Chace Crawford_ or _Brad Pitt_. The perfect, broad nose, the wonderful blue eyes, the messed up hair, it was the perfect look of a _handsome_ god.

I was so caught up in the man's face that I actually forgot that I had the vest in my hands, the water tapping against my fingers, and that he was holding his hand up, offering me his mask. I shook myself out from my dream state and grabbed the item from his hands. I snipped the string tied to either sides of the mask with my teeth and used it to tie my wavy hair up into a messy ponytail. I heard his chuckle get drowned out by water. I stared at him behind my red mask as I got a handful of soap and began washing the vest. "What?" I asked him defensively.

"Have you _never_ seen someone as _good looking_ as me?" He said arrogantly while his mouth curved up in a grin. He was almost done unbuttoning his shirt, and I was in fact almost _near_ in the verge of telling him how _big_ his head was getting.

"Look how egotistic you are?" I added sarcastically with body movement to support my emotions. I rubbed the vest with its own fabric in an attempt to get the blood stain out. It worked, with just the right amount of soap, and the right amount of pressure I put in brushing it with itself. Finally, when there isn't any more blood on the vest, I twisted it and let all the water drip out. I took a nearby stool and placed it right under the hand dryer. I hung the west vest under it and pressed _start_, wherein the dryer slowly dried the fabric.

I looked at the man and saw that he was completely half naked. He had his shirt in his hands, and I saw his perfectly exposed and _perfectly toned_ chest. The wound on his abdomen was already slightly healed, when I swore that just a while ago, there was a river of blood gushing out from it. And like the state I was in a while ago, I was completely speechless and taken back by his _body figure_. He was… I couldn't even finish that sentence. I didn't know what _other_ adjective I could use to define his body structure.

Just then, I heard another set of laughter come out from him. My eyes moved from his chest back to his face. A wide and joyous smile was printed on his face. "I'm taking that as a yes." He answered his own question after a while. Wow, I never thought that this would really be an _awkward _moment. I mean, why wouldn't it be? We were in a masquerade ball. We barely knew each other, or even each other's names. And here we were, inside the men's bathroom, washing clothes and treating wounds. I shook myself from those thoughts and then grabbed a roll of tissue. I passed it to him and gave him orders.

"Here, put this on your cut. It will help avoid infection or any other more drastic effects." I whispered and he accepted it gladly. I took a hold of his shirt and then soaked it in the sink like what I did with his vest. I went up to the dryer and looked to see if the vest was dry enough. To my expectations, it was, and it looked better than I have guessed. It was completely wearable. I took it in my hands, and sniffed it, and when I did, it smelled like flowers. _I am so good._ I handed him the vest and raised his eyebrows in satisfaction.

"Wow, this is pretty impressive." He said in a soft voice and took a few steps closer to me. His eyes sparkled in an entirely different way, as if his inner character changed. "Thank you." He smiled a true and genuine smile that sent a wave of calmness through me.

"You're welcome." I added and our eyes locked for a few seconds. His stares sent chills up and down my spine, and I felt Goosebumps appear all over my body. My heart beat a lot faster and my breathing became erratic. I mean, how could it _not_ be? There was this stranger right in front of me, and we were just inches away from touching. He was half naked, and I just helped him with an open wound. What was I, a nurse? I got a hold of myself and stared back at the running water.

I began hand washing his white, button up shirt, but I couldn't bear the awkward silence in between these moments. He was just… _staring_ at me while I moved, and I was getting a little self-conscious with myself, so I decided to spark up some conversation. "Why'd you even get stabbed in the abs, by the way?"

He looked right at me and crossed his arms on his chest. I still can't believe he was _shirtless_. It was just a little fact I knew I just _couldn't _disregard. I tried avoiding looking at him, but it seems to be impossible. "Well, I've been unbelievably clumsy. I think I ran through something in the patio, and I guess, Bonnie just didn't want to help me when I had an attack."

"It's very unlikely of her. Once, I fell down the stairs at our house, and she was the first to actually _help_ me up and check if I was okay. She's one of the most helpful people in the whole world, and I think maybe it's a fact that she didn't have a fear of _blood_." I told him as I finished up the shirt and squeezed the water from it. I lay it down under the stool and pressed _start_. I went back into one of the cubicles again, and collected a few rolls of tissue. I grabbed the alcohol from the sink and poured a few drops of it on the tissue paper. I grabbed the one he placed on his abdomen and replaced it with the one soaked in alcohol. He gave a sharp hiss and I giggle under my breath.

"What's your relationship with Bonnie? Are you friends, best friends, frenemies, enemies, or just plain strangers?"

"She doesn't like me very much. I've been a complete _asshole_ to her from the very beginning. I understand why she doesn't want to help me. Actually, I think she really enjoyed the scene when I was writhing in misery on the floor." He chuckled out and I saw a huge smile on his face. It was like laughing during kindergarten. You meet someone new and in an instant, it's like you've been the best of friends in 3 years. I laughed in chorus with him, until the dryer finally went off. I came to check if the shirt was completely dried, and it was. I gave it to him and he began wearing it.

His wound finally stopped bleeding and it was already safe for him to wear the shirt. He tried buttoning it up, but it just seemed that his fingers fumbled as they tried to shoot the buttons in the tiny holes. I could see the frustrated looks on his face and I just could bear _not_ to let out a laugh. I came forward and shoved his hands away gently.

"You know, almost 9 out of 10 grown men could button their own clothes up by themselves right now. You're one of the 1 of 10 that still has trouble with it." I said jokingly, as I began buttoning his shirt up, and then his vest. I took the string from my hair and tied it back to his mask and handed it to him once again. When we were finished, I washed my hands one final time and dried them, but before I could leave the room, he grabbed my arm and stopped me from going anymore further. I turned back to look at him, and he coyly smiled at me.

"Thank you, for everything. You're kind of a wonder woman, you know that?" He arched his eyebrows under the intricately designed black mask that covered his face. "In a span of 20 minutes, you managed to treat a wound, wash and dry clothes, and even make wonderful conversation. You don't see anyone that could do all those things." He added and smiled.

I grinned at him in return. "Well, it's a talent."

"I guess this is the part where you actually give me your name and your number." He said hesitantly, but still managed to keep his voice cool and collected. I knew tons of boys, who try to do that, and they usually failed, but this one's different. He almost gave himself away, but he still picked himself up and recovered.

"I think it's probably best if I don't." And I saw him frown under the mask. "I'm the one who usually wants to make myself broody and enigmatic. I like having people not know very much about me." I added, and the spark that I saw in his eyes a couple of moments ago, came back. As if there was something I said that just made him a lot more interested. I gave him a final grin and a very fanciful curtsy and greeted him, "Goodnight."

I walked out the bathroom and ran towards the darkest region of the patio where I know no one could ever find me. It was like a maze in this large patio, and I guessed that the portion where the fountain was located was just the beginning of it. I walked past a few trees, bushes and hedges trying to find a way to get to a farther region. And then, I found an open field. It was just as big as the men's bathroom, but it was so peaceful, so serene. I walked to the very center where a stone bench was located and I sat down.

It was the perfect place to just empty my heart, and get a hold of what I have been thinking of for the past few weeks I've been in here.

This town was once my home. I was born here, I was raised here, but unfortunately, my parents and I moved from here to Nashville, and I started a new life in there, but I couldn't help but think about what I had _learned_. And no, it's not about what I learned in school. It was about what I learned over the internet, _about_ this town.

I have researched on this town 2 weeks before I finally confirmed to Elena that I was going to be spending my _entire_ summer vacation here. I looked it up in the Wikipedia and it was said that Mystic Falls, Virginia was said to be founded during 1864, by the _founding families_ which comprised of the _Fells_, the _Forbes_, the _Gilberts_, the _Lockwoods_ and the _Salvatores_. It was also said that _these_ families had helped during the battle of _Willow Creek_.

And that was not the only information I figured out. I have also learned that not only were there the _Founding Families_, but there was also a council that composed of a representative of each family called _The Founder's Council of 1864_. They were the ones to oversee Mystic Falls' various Founders' heritage events. But unlike those other people who are easily contented with such _wanted-to-know_ facts, I eagerly dug up some more, so I looked up the nearest University to have studied the city's history. I found out that _Duke_ was offering that, so a week before I went up here, I asked my mom if I could drive to North Carolina, and she obliged.

When I got my chance to ask some questions about the town, I finally discovered a few unwanted to know details. First of all, I asked about the Council of 1864, and the head guide told me something that was beyond normal for ears to hear. The Council wasn't really what people think they are. The Council was actually a secret underground group of _vampire hunters_.

I was actually taken back by that fact. _Vampires_? I thought those mythical creatures only existed in bad Dracula and Nosferatu movies, along with the whole Twilight craze and the True Blood thing, but if you were to think rationally about the fact that vampires did exist, you may want to rethink about how the world really was.

The first thing that immediately flew on my mind was about how they looked. Were they extremely good looking or just as old as that count Dracula? Did they have eyes that change in color or do their eyes just freakishly transform? Do they turn into bats, or what? Are they allergic to garlic, holy water, crucifixes and silver, or are those just myths?

And that wasn't the only _unknown_ fact that I was shocked of knowing. She also stated that _vampires _aren't _extinct_ yet. They still live among us, under the shadows, stalking people during the night. They were everywhere, in every single corner in the United States, even across the continents, all over the world, and it was said that Mystic Falls had a history with them, and they weren't completely gone.

That was actually the _known fact_ that completely convinced me to come and visit this town. My life was actually running out of adventures, and I'm one who always wants to seek for interesting fun. Nothing else was really happening back in Tennessee, and I think it's time for a change. I need to befriend a vampire, get my neck snapped, get compelled to forget, and return and become a free woman again.

"If only it was that easy." I muttered to myself lowly and laughed as I thought about my own pathetic wish. I then breathed out a tilted my head upwards to look at the stars. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply.

"I want some adventure in my life. I want some adrenaline in my veins. I want some blood on my hands. Why can't I find something that could help me in my search for that?" I asked myself rhetorically and then I laid my body down on the stone bench. I had 7 weeks more till' summer ends. I have to find what I need. But my thoughts were rattled when I heard a familiar voice reply to a question which was for me only.

"It's because we haven't met yet." I flinched and sat up as a reflex action. I twisted my head to see whose voice it was that I've been hearing over my shoulder. It was the guy I helped out a while ago, and this time, he held his mask in his hands, and his other was inside his pocket. He paced closer and closer. "I'm Damon, Damon Salvatore."


	14. Chapter 13: Exchanging Introductions

**Chapter 13**: Exchanging Introductions

**Elaine's POV**

"You look entirely confused." He whispered with a wide smirk on his face. He began pacing forward as my eyes blinked rapidly in surprise. Did that guy just tell me that his name was _Damon Salvatore?_ Salvatore, where have I heard that name before? That's when Stefan came to my mind. Is it possible that this 'Damon-guy' and Stefan are related to each other? Maybe they're cousins, just like Elena and I. But I just know I won't be sure unless I ask. But before I opened my mouth, he took three long strides and placed his finger on my lips.

"Shh, don't speak." I gazed deep into his pale blue eyes and they absolutely _held_ me of my will, as if those eyes could hypnotize me. He kept them still, and his eyes locked on mine, but I saw the corner of his mouth twitch into a mischievous smirk. Then, he carefully tilted my chin upwards so that I was facing him directly. He bent down and I took notice of how he leaned in closer and closer, till' our faces were only inches away from touching. His finger dragged softly down to my chin, and then traced a line on my jaw to brush my cheek.

"You want to _kiss_ me." It wasn't a question, or a suggestion. It was a _statement_. His eyes didn't move away from mine, but I could surely feel his hand move from the side of my face to wrap themselves around my neck. His fingertips brushed my collarbone, and ended at the side of my neck, where one of my major arteries were located. He moved in for a kiss, and when he was close enough, I immediately jumped back from the stone bench and crossed my arms on my chest.

"Getting a kiss isn't that easy, Mr. Salvatore." I replied coyly, placing a fingertip on my lips. I gave him a smirk, and he arched his eyebrows at me, confused. I saw his eyes travel over my body in a suspecting way, as if he was studying, or _finding_ something. His eyes landed on my neck, right where the dangling necklace hung. He straightened his posture and placed his hands in his pockets.

"Nice necklace." He praised. I smiled, and my hands travelled immediately to it. Instead of grabbing my _vervain necklace_, my fingers landed on a pulse I could feel radiating from within my neck. I scanned him too and noticed a beautiful ring that fit perfectly around his ring finger. It was a bright shade of _ultramarine_ that was wrapped in coiled silver wherein a small capital '_D_' was engraved in the center.

"Nice ring." I added and he lifted his arm and turned it sideward to show it to me.

"It's Lapis Lazuli, one of the finest stones in the world." He replied in an uninterested tone. He seems almost bored with it. After he explained, he looked back at my neck again.

"Oh," I whispered. "This one's a rare herb called _Vervain_. My cousin's boyfriend handed it to her to give it to me. She says it keeps away _supernatural beings_ that go creak, snap and crack in the dark." A chain of laughter followed my explanation. Then, I caught sight of the beautiful ring that lingered on his finger as his hands were just right before his lips. His eyes never left my necklace, and I could even see his forehead crumpling repeatedly, as he kept on focusing on it.

"Can I see your ring?"

"Can I see your necklace?" He smirked deviously, as if he just immediately figured out something. We kept our distances from each other with the stone bench in between us. I felt a cold wind swept behind my back, and my hair blew in waves all over my face. I could _not_ have the will to let go of my necklace in my palms, and I didn't know why, but I was beginning to feel a weird vibe that radiated off of _him_.

I took a step back and shuddered when I saw him play with his ring with a Cheshire grin. "Um, m-m-my cousin told me n-n-not to take it off for anyone." My voice broke and the words came out in chatters. I couldn't believe what just happened! Did I, _Elaine Gilbert_, just got nervous? I felt my knees turn weak when a smirk appeared on his face sensing the near taste of close victory. He clicked his tongue in disapproval but still carried his victorious grin.

"What are you, like 8? You don't get bossed around by people at this age, _especially_ by your cousin." He slowly removed the ring from his finger and started playing with it in his hands. It shimmered under the moonlight, and to me, it was like the most delicious chocolate I could ever find in all the candy stores in the world. He took large strides forward, and over the bench, till' we were only separated by a foot of space. His hands went behind my neck and played with the lock of my necklace. "Come on, would it hurt?"

_I really should be thinking this through_, I thought to myself as I avoided his gaze. What happened a while ago might happen to me once again. I took my time to think about it, and after a few seconds, I began fumbling with the lock of my necklace, and I had it in my hands, hanging over my fingers. He reached out to grab it, but before he could, I reached my hand out for his ring. He arched his eyebrow at me, and we exchanged at the same time.

I held the intricately engraved ring in my hands and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, but it seems to be familiar. I've remembered that Stefan has a ring just the same, only it had an '_S_' engraved on it, not a '_D_'. I tried it out for size on my ring finger, and unfortunately, it was quite bigger than the size of my finger, and it didn't go well with my blood red gown. I guess it only goes great with _black or white_.

Remembering the point of having been silenced a while ago, I finally opened my mouth, "Are you, by any chance, related to Stefan Salvatore?"

He stifled a chuckle and rolled his eyes. "He's my _baby _brother. I'm like 8 years older than him, and was born on the 31st of October. I'm a Scorpio. I'm more of a _dark shirt_ person, and I usually wear black. I like being an extrovert, lurking through the shadows and trying to scare teenage girls, but I usually have them by one look in the eyes." He smirked and gazed deep into my brown depths again. I avoided his eyes and looked down again.

"I'm also more of an edgy kind of guy, unlike my old fashioned 19th century stuck brother, Stefan. I like clubbing, shiny gifts, but I know it'd also be _romantic_ if she'd just let me take her out to a forest where we can have a lone picnic dinner under the moonlight," Wow, how deep of him to want that. That's really romantic, and I hope I find someone who's as idealistic as I am, like _him_. "Maybe even mess around a little bit with our clothes off." And he just threw the moment out of the window.

I rolled my eyes and began walking away. I felt a hand grasp my arm and I looked behind him. He was still and he had my arms in his hands. He stared at the ring I wore of my finger, which was his, and I stared back at the vervain necklace he had wrapped around his arm, but he was so careful into avoiding it coming in contact with his skin. In one tug, he had forcefully pulled me closer to him till' our bodies was touching. He roughly tilted my head up with his hand and it caused me to stare deep into his enigmatic eyes.

"I've told you a _lot_ about myself, and I think it's your turn to tell me what _I_ want to know." He said as his eyes never left mine. His hand went up to brush my cheek and I wanted to look away, but there was this unknown force that kept me from doing what I wanted. It was as if he held unto me from his gaze.

"Tell me _everything _about yourself." He ordered in a low whisper.

"My name is Elaine Gilbert and I am Elena Gilbert's cousin." And I saw his eyes widen in surprise. "I am 17, born on October 21st and I'm a couple of days older than her. I'm a Scorpio too. I like music. It gives me an outlet to show my emotions. I like discovering new things, having adventures and doing extreme stuff that make my heart go _boom_, _boom_, _boom_." I stated in a monotonous voice. His hands dropped to his sides and waited for me to explain further.

"I've been staying here for 3 weeks now already, and I've met Elena's _wonderful_ friends. There was Bonnie, always so truthful and uptight, but I'll always know that deep down she's a great friend. Caroline, the sheriff's daughter who had a _really_ hard time coping up with her new life. But she is really nice. Then there's Matt, the lovable ex who still keeps her as a friend. And of course, I wouldn't forget _Stefan_. He was the one who brought Elena back to life after the accident. I've never seen anyone make her so happy before. I'm really glad he's in her life."

"I'm also a little bit crazy about colors when it comes to wearing clothes, but it depends on my mood. If I really want to show the world how happy I've become, I'd wear a yellow sundress. If I want to show people that something happened worth giving condolence to, I'd proudly wear black clothes with a tint of violet. No matter what occasion it is, it's always best to wear color."

"I also love romantic dinners. The one's where you could talk over a plate of Italian food, with candlelight and a starry, starry night. But a casual night off is likeable too. You just stay in his house, watching a horror movie, you fall asleep in each other's arms, and when you'd wake up, you'd be lucky enough to find a plate of lasagna and a glass of orange juice right in front of you, on the coffee table. Something sweet like that. Or decent talks on the beach, just watching the sun go down, talking over how the day went and opening up to each other like you're each other's journal."

"But trusting someone with secrets isn't my really my forte." And he narrowed his eyes in confusion. I continued to explain, "Handing your heart out to someone you really care about, giving him your _all_, and then finding out eventually that he was just using you, that he never really loved you. He breaks your heart, he breaks his promises, he laid out your secrets for the whole world to see." I paused for a moment. "It really is heartbreaking to watch. It's better to be alone and bitter, than to have someone with you who may make you happy at first, but would just double your suffering afterwards."

"I know how you feel." He broke off my words, but still held my gaze. His lips turned into a straight line on his face, and his eyes sparkled in sorrow at memories I knew sparked within him. "And all the pain you have, you just try switching it off, trying not to feel any more of the pain she had caused. But knowing deep down, it still cut through." He whispered and touched my hands gently. He held it in his and they felt _cold_.

"The worst thing about the whole mess is that, you wouldn't even have anyone to share your sadness with. Not a friend, not a _brother_. No one. You have to keep all those feelings locked up inside you, cause' you'll never know when that experience might happen again. Being afraid that you'd get your heart ripped out from your chest again."

"It must be lonely, isn't it?" And he was surprised by my words. "Having to share this with no one but yourself. Didn't you ever wish that you'd just have this one special someone who was guaranteed not to break your heart for once? Someone who'd be willing to give you advice, unlike a diary which is silent most of the time. Someone who'd promise never to break your heart, unlike a lover who might move on one day. Someone who'd stay with you forever, unlike a best friend who might turn his back on you in a blink." I added and his gaze finally broke off from mine. I shook head banishing the hypnotism he had me in.

_What happened?_ I thought to myself, as I saw my hands being held gently in the stranger's hands. Damon, was it? He bowed his head down, avoiding my eyes. I could've sworn that I was so guarded with my secrets, and in one gaze, he had almost everything about me in his grasp. From the looks of things, Damon was the type of guy who would be afraid to show his colors to people, his _weaknesses_, but by the vulnerability he's showing me right now, with his head on the ground, it's unlike the arrogance I've been expecting.

I waited for him to move, but he didn't, so I decided to follow where his eyes went. It was the necklace I handed to him a while ago, and his was playing with it in his hands, still avoiding it's contact with his skin. Then I saw his head jerk up, and his eyes were on mine again, but this time, they just held sincerity. He moved his hands to the back of my neck, and I flinched, but that's when I realized that he was just trying to place the necklace back where it belongs.

I looked him in the eyes and tried finding what it _is_ that he was hiding. I saw sadness and bitterness in his eyes, and they led me to his soul. He had this hard exterior which told people that he was someone you could never hurt, but I could sense that deep inside, his own memories were the one that were hurting him. I placed a hand on his cheek and whispered, "I'm sorry."

He gave me a sharp nod and stood still. I dropped my hand from his face and removed the ring from my ringer. I took his hand back and placed the ring in it, closing it securely. With that, he returned the ring in his finger and lifted his hand to me.

"It's alright. Now come on, this was some weird moment. We just met, and yet we just opened up to each other like there was compulsion involved." He said jokingly. "How about we get some drinks at the bar, while we talk more about yourself. Maybe I could fill in a couple of blanks for you over a few shots of gin."

I stared at him again. _Was it even possible that you could transform what you feel that fast_? I thought again and hesitantly placed my hand on his. He smiled and we began walking forward and back to the ballroom. I continuously looked at him, trying to escape a couple of glances, and my thoughts about him a while ago was wrong. He may have a smirk on his face, but his eyes still held the sorrow of his memories. He was masking himself again.

But for once, I tried to forget about that now. It was all about us, about this time of merriment with dancing and music. At least I have found someone who had the same thoughts as I did. We walked back to the light as the music became loud booms again. We came through the door and there, I found everyone dancing to the same old crappy classic music that was only meant for the 19th century Renaissance periods, but as soon as we walked in, almost everyone paused to have their eyes on us. No, actually, not on us, but on _Damon_. I remembered that he was unmasked and that I was. I pulled him the down to whisper something to him.

"I think it's probably the best time to wear your mask." He chuckled and took the mask from out of his pocket, and placed it back on his face. He held my hands in his again, and we walked to the bar, but before we could manage to get even close enough, I saw Elena, Stefan and Bonnie, with their jaws hanging open, a empty champagne glass shattered on the floor. What happened?


	15. Chapter 14: Damon's Dream Girl

**Chapter 14: **Damon's Dream Girl

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE*****

_Guys, I'm really sorry that this is a short one. I just realized how much _writer's block_ I am experiencing at the moment, and how I'm not really that good when it comes to writing stuff in a _guy's POV_. I just also realized how hard it was to make a story based on a show, when for a fact, you don't know how those people are feeling. (Well, of course, you could see them in Damon's eyes, but…) So, I'm really sorry. I hope you guys enjoy this. I promise that I'm posting the other chapter as soon as this one goes up. _**Thanks!**

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**Damon's POV**

_This ought to be interesting_, I thought as I saw everyone's eyes on us when we walked back the room. I loved the envious expressions in their faces, especially hearing their heart rate rise up in jealousy. I also liked the part when I saw Stefan and Elena's faces appear through the large crowd, and how they wore the surprised expressions on their faces when they saw how I was walking hand in hand with her cousin, and not Bonnie's. (The information I've recently discovered through a simple act of compulsion.)

We slowly walked to the bar with our hands intertwined, seeing how Elaine looked concerned for her cousin and her cousin's boyfriend's surprised expression, having a small empty glass of champagne fall to the floor and shatter to a million pieces. I gently pulled her till' we reached the bar, where Mason was still situated in.

I helped her get on a stool and she thanked me with a wide smile. I took a seat afterwards. I slapped my hand on the table which caught Mason's attention, and his jaw dropped when he saw me seated right next to _Elaine_, a girl he claimed he met a few moments ago. His mouth closed and I gave him a smirk. "A simple shot of tequila for me, Mason." I asked as I watched how he got the bottle from a nearby shelf hesitantly. "And what would the lady like?"

She stared at the wolf boy and gave a weak smile. "Oh, I'd have a coke. I don't think Sir Mason here would appreciate it if I'd present an act of underage drinking, as if Tyler doesn't drink, Mr. Lockwood." She added and I pretended not to listen _or_ care. I thoroughly observed how Mason prepared the shot. You'd never know when he might find the right to lace the drink with vervain.

Surfer boy handed us the drinks and leaned over to whisper something to the two of us. "So, how long have you known each other?"

Elaine took a sip from her drink and looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and shot down mine. "Long enough for you not to be suspicious." And I heard another low growl escape from his throat. He took my shot glass and refilled it with the same drink. I heard Elaine put her glass down on the table as she exhaled and then pointed to the both of us, Mason and me.

"So, how about you guys? How long have you met?" And I arched my eyebrows at her, and Mason did too. "I mean, it looks like you two have known each other for a very long time. Are you like, buddies from college, or high school football players or something?" I heard Mason chuckle under his breath as he leaned closer to Elena.

"We actually haven't known each other for a long time. We actually met through _Jenna._ It wasn't a long period of friendship, but ever since then, it's as if we're bonded by _blood_." Elaine smiled and Mason sent me a couple of death glares which were matched with grins to hide his real intentions. My eyes widened in the sense of competition and I easily replied.

"Yeah, I mean, we're _so_ close that we almost consider each others as _pack brothers_." I added and he just nodded agreeably. Elaine gave us another smile and then sipped her coke again.

"It's really great to hear about that." She added. Mason stared at me intently and I stared at him back. I raised my shoulders and motioned my hand for him to move away. _Give us some privacy, damn it_! I ordered with my eyes, and he hesitantly obliged. He moved to the other side of the bar. He gave us some distance, but I still knew that he was listening.

I cleared my throat and asked a couple of questions. "So, _Elaine_, do you drink?" I asked as I took another sip of my drink. I tried my best not to over-drink myself, just in case she wanted to try. Well, these were one of those things girls don't usually. They don't usually drink with guys whom they just met at a party. I was hoping this would take me another few minutes to convince her to try, but it actually shocked me when she opened her mouth and answered.

"Of course I do. Not that much but, I try to control myself." She whispered. "I'm the type of drinker that drinks until she can't drink anymore, but I could still keep my sanity afterwards _or_ during." She added smiling at me. She was sweet, I could tell, but she had that wild element underneath her that was just banging the doors from the inside. I stared at Mason, who I've expected was still keeping a keen eye on us. I stood up and reached over the table to get the tequila bottle wolf boy used to fill up my shot glass.

"Well, how about we test your strength, girlie?" I replied, reaching for another shot glass, and pouring it in till' it reached the cap line. I handed her the shot glass and she stared at it with wide eyes.

"Bring it on, lover boy." Her voice was filled with the thrill of competition. She grabbed the glass with her hands, and I watched Mason's eyes were filled with frustration, anger, fury, and disappointment. I gave him a wide smirk and raised my glass to him and mouthed _cheers _to him. Elaine caught that through her peripheral and turned her head to look at Mason. Then she asked me, "He doesn't look too happy about this." She said. "Are you sure we should do this?"

She sounded just like a girlfriend secretly having an affair with another man while dating her current boyfriend. She sounded unsure of the act. I narrowed my eyes at her. I knew I had the upper hand in this thing. I could sense that she was the type of girl who was _not_ afraid of a fight, someone who _can't_ _back down_ from one when she gets dared to do it. I also knew that I was capable of convincing girls to do what _I _want just by using my boyish cute charms. I leaned in closer to her till' our faces were only an inch apart.

Through my peripheral, I observed how most of the people watched us intently with envious eyes. I felt her heart rate increase as I moved in closer and closer. With the vervain necklace wrapped around her neck, I tried compelling her without the use of my powers. "Come on, you know you want too." And in that instant, her breathing became erratic.

I saw how she exhaled in defeat, and I let out a low chuckle. I could feel her pulse beat from here. I immediately pulled back. I might make her faint from such lack of oxygen. I mean, with my breathtakingly good looks, everyone is held under my power. "In a count of three, shoot it down, alright?"

"Sure!" She said, gripping the glass tight in between her hands. I began counting. _One_… _Two_… _Three_… And with that final number, we tilted our heads back together and shot the drink down. I immediately withdrew back to take a good look at her, and I saw that she was still recovering difficultly from that wave of liquor burning down her throat.

"How was that, princess?" I asked in a painfully slow and seductive voice. She closed her eyes tightly and coughed a little bit, but then, she used the coke to drown out the excess liquor taste from her mouth.

"I can't believe that was _really_ strong. I mean, I can't remember the last time I've drunk something as strong as that. It was really only gin and vodka for us back in Tennessee, but I guess tequila's a new one for me." She replied, looking at the bottle. I shivered at distaste as she scanned the bottle again, and when I thought that she was going to return it back to the bar, she caught me off guard when she poured in another shot of tequila inside her glass.

She took a small sip from her coke and then asked, "So, tell me a little bit more about yourself."

I stared deep into her eyes. She was _really_ as confusing as a jigsaw puzzle, or as unpredictable as the weather. In one moment, she'd be fragile and vulnerable, and in another, she'd be as wild as one crazy party animal, just dancing the night away. You wouldn't really be able to place a finger on her. She's spontaneous, in a _non_-devious way, unlike Katherine, and that thing _draws_ me to her.

"What?" She asked me and I shook myself out from my dream state, staring into her brown depths. I chuckled and then asked her back, _what do you wanna know?_

She shrugged her shoulders and crossed her legs together. "I don't know. For starters, what do you look for in a girl? Any specific personalities that draws your interest toward them? Any specific dislikes that you usually avoid? Hair color, attire, eye color, vital statistics and etcetera. Come on. Give me the best description for your _dream_ girl." She added and that made me laugh harder than ever. She raised her eyebrows at me, and as soon as I stopped, I took a sip from my newly refilled shot glass.

"Sure, sure." I added and then began explaining. Just behind Elaine's right shoulder, I could see Mason laughing along with me as he dried the glasses and the dishes he once washed. "Let's start with the personality. I like a girl who's not afraid to try new things with me. I mean, I _love_ trying new positions and¾" But before I was able to finish that question, she landed a punch on my right arm.

I playfully rubbed my right arm in mock pain and then added, "Ouch. That hurt _a lot_, Elaine." And then, she giggled. I continued what I was saying.

"I also would love someone who'd have me as her _first_ choice, not her second, not her third. I want to be her number one, and I want to be her only one. I don't wanna be a tool ever again. Just a _thing_ she uses for her own benefits. Either it be for pleasure, for popularity, or for making her _real_ goal _jealous_. I want our love to be real. I don't want anything to come between that." I saw Mason roll her eyes behind Elaine, and I did the same thing watching him.

"I want someone who could trust me wholeheartedly, and someone I could trust wholeheartedly myself. I want someone who wouldn't rip my heart out for anything. I want someone who'd love me for who I am, and wouldn't leave me for another guy. That's just a sharp kick to the guts, and I don't think anybody, especially people like me, could come back from pains as unforgettable as that."

"How poetic?" She replied jokingly and I scoffed at her loudly. "Now tell me, what are the physical traits you want in a girl? Any talents, skills?"

"I was just getting to that." I added sarcastically, raising my hands at my sides in defense. I finally finished my shot at hand and then held my hands together. "I want someone with eyes like sparkling jewels, but I want them to be in the shade of the finest chocolate in the world." I can't believe how _gooey_ and _mushy_ that just sounded coming out from my mouth. "I also like long brown hair that falls back till' above her ass, forgive my language." I already spoke before she could throw another punch at me. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Light pink lips that are soft and kissable, and if she'd let me kiss her all day without stopping, I'd _totally _do it." She laughed at that, and it was a beautiful and harmonic sound. Her laughter, it rang in my mind like an old record. "I prefer an hourglass shape, but anything would do. I also would love it if that _someone_ was a particularly good kisser and _bed mate_, forgive my language _again_." I said holding my hands up in front of myself in self defense. She gave me a look of disgust and then washed it all with a gulp of coke.

"What about you? You're in here asking me about things I'm finding in a girl, what about you? What are you looking for in a guy?" I asked, as I crossed my arms in front of my chest. She gave a deep and dreamy sigh. You know that sigh girls give when they just saw their crushes walk by them and said _'hey'_ with a breathtaking smile. She looked down and I saw her face flush red.

"Well, _personally_, I want a guy who'd be there for me, every step of the way. I don't want him discouraging me with all the bad ideas I make. I want him to be _there_ for me when the consequences are bad, just to tell me that _nobody's perfect_, and not to rub it in my face that I made a mistake. I don't want him to interfere with the decisions I make." She whispered to me, with her arms insecurely wrapped around herself. I began observing every one of her body movements.

"That's the beauty of being with _me_. Hell, if you want to try ideas out, you should be asking me to book us sky diving lessons. It'd be something to remember." I added and she giggled again. She eventually emptied her glass of coke and asked for another one. Mason, who was painfully listening to our conversation, walked over to refill her glass. His eyes never left mine. Once he was finished, she mouthed thanks and he walked away. She took a sip from her coke and then asked.

"Are you sure you guys are friends? It doesn't look much like it."

"There's a little bit of competition and jealousy. I mean, we could _both_ admit that _I'm_ better looking than him. He just can't stand the truth." I whispered and I overheard Mason growl a little bit. I smirked in the pleasure of his fury. "Now come on, continue."

"And, this might sound _horrible_ but, I have a thing for _bad boys_." When she said that, there was this switch at the back of my mind that just turned _off_ my self-control. My eyes widened and my jaw almost dropped open. _Miss Elena's little cousin is her total opposite. She's into bad boys. Well, this girl just got herself into a whole _lot_ of trouble._


	16. Chapter 15: What's Going On?

Chapter 15: **What's Going On?**

**Elaine's POV**

"I have a thing for bad boys." I whispered to him hesitantly and I could see his eyes sparkle with interest again. His pupils dilated and I noticed how his pale blue eyes glistened in delight. A huge Cheshire grin pulled up from his mouth, I knew that what I said had just provoked him into doing something. He leaned in closer to whisper something in my ear, and when I felt him breathe on my skin, a huge wave of chills went down my spine which made me flinch in his touch.

His fingers traced a line from my arm down to my bare back. His light butterfly traces made my breathing turn uneven. I could already feel like I'm shaking within his grasp. I could feel his other hand on my waist. I was desperately wishing that no one was watching us, but I was pretty sure that Mason had his eye on us the whole time. I could feel his frustration behind me, and I know that Damon was only mocking him more.

"Keep speaking…" He whispered as his hand that was once on my waist reached up to my hair and began twirling it around with his fingers. I decided to oblige with his command and play along, but I was too frozen stiff to even move my body, even my mouth refused to make words. I tried speaking but only unnecessary noises came out of me. He gave a low laugh that made goose bumps appear on my skin, and when he figured I was too speechless to even do what he has told me, he just whispered. "You don't wanna do it? Well then, allow me."

"You like medium length raven black hair that's as dark as the evening sky, don't you?" He said, and I nodded. My arm began unconsciously moving upward to rake the dark tresses that fell from his head. His lips were still aligned to meet my ear, and I felt his teeth graze my ear lobe. When my fingers came in contact with his hair, I felt his chest vibrate, letting out another set of laughs.

"You also like shimmering pale blue eyes that are as bright as the stars in the skies, don't you?" He added and my head bobbed again in another nod. This time, his head pulled away from my ear to face me and to lock his gaze with mine. And then, he reached out to pull my hand that tugged his hair to place a soft kiss at the back of my hand, but his eyes never left mine.

"_And a kiss that would last for a thousand years, bear down upon from a devil's mouth, malevolent and slow like a painful burn_," He whispered as he pulled back so that we were talking on eye level. "_On the lips of an angel, red as roses in the garden. Delightful eyes that were filled with desire and lust, and not even her lord could tame the passionate fire burning in her heart. The whisper of the prince came like a gentle wind and offered her the darkest of her wishes,_" He leaned in closer and closer till' it only took one move before our lips could meet, but before he finished his deed, he whispered one more thing to me. "_Kiss me now, or forever hold your peace. The last of these chances come now, and the next in another thousand years._" His voice was soft and low. I shut my eyes tightly and waited for his final move, but before he could do it, a voice interrupted from behind us and I immediately pulled away.

"Hey Elaine, so I see that you've met my brother, Damon." Stefan smiled at me under his mask as Elena had too. They were holding each other's hands, and looked in love, but when I further looked deep into both their eyes, I saw a look of worry and concern. Stefan tried his best to keep a smile on his face, but Elena seemed to fall out. She was _destroyed_, as if all her hope was taken away from her instantly. I tried to fake a smile, cause' I know that it affected me too.

"Stefan, glad of you to come and join us." Damon muttered from under his breath when my cousin, Elena, and her boyfriend, Stefan, came up to the bar to come say _'Hi'_. I noticed how frustrated Damon got when they apparently showed up. I think I knew why, and I think with all these long faces and pretending around me, I could finally piece up the clues together.

Damon's upset because the kiss didn't happen. Elena's upset because she saw her cousin almost kissing her boyfriend's older brother. Stefan's upset because he saw how much Elena was upsetting, and because he just saw his girlfriend's cousin almost kissing his older brother. And now I'm upset because I just realized how everything and everybody's mood went downhill because of me. How wonderful.

I let out a loud sigh as Damon and Stefan continued their conversation. Elena walked right next to me and crossed her arms. She rolled her eyes as she tried not to listen to the two brother's incisive talking. She crossed her arms over her chest and said, "You met Damon, huh? Was he nice to you?" I laughed and then looked at her.

"Well, he was _real_ arrogant and _so_ full of himself for a while, but then he changes. I don't know, he's been giving me whiplash with the whole mood changing attitude, but I think we have a few common characteristics. You know how people are. In the past 17 years, I've been actually looking for someone who was like me, and I think I just met him now." I replied to her with a smile as I snuck a glance at Damon who was still arrogantly conversing with his little brother.

I saw how Elena winced at the words that came out from my mouth. She closed her eyes and then took a deep breath. I was kind of wondering why her reaction was as negative as that. Maybe Damon and she had a long and horrible history together, that's why she tried keeping me from meeting Damon Salvatore.

"Yeah, but _Damon_? Are you really sure he wasn't compelling you into¾" And then she stopped halfway through her sentence. Her eyes widened and then I saw her flinch. She jumped up from her casual stance, and now she held my shoulders tightly in a stressed manner. She held the _vervain_ necklace in her hands, and with wide eyes, she asked, "Did you _ever_ remove this necklace?"

And that was enough to get both the brother's attention to me. I back a couple of steps away from Elena, and she released her grip on the necklace she gave me. Stefan looked at me curiously, his hands wrapped around himself, crossed across his chest as he waited for a delightful answer. I know the words he wanted to hear come out from my mouth. And then there was Damon, who had a malicious smirk spread wide across his face. His eyes sparked sinisterly and he just continued staring. Was I supposed to say the truth here?

"Um, technically…" I stuttered. I was still unconvinced on what I was supposed to say to them, the truth, or the lie that they most wanted to hear. But Damon was around, and there would be someone to witness the stretched truth coming out from my lips. I was stuck in the middle. Elena would be _fairly_ disappointed in me if she figured out that I removed the necklace, and I'm pretty sure Stefan would be too. What am I supposed to do?

My eyes travelled from Elena, to Stefan and then finally, they landed on Damon. He still kept a firm smirk on his lips, and he remained motionless, but the left hand wrapped around his right arm unconsciously moved, and the ring, his Lapis Lazuli, glimmered under the lights of the golden incandescent bulb. Oh God, he wanted to tell me the truth. I finally lifted my hands up in surrender and muttered. "I think I've just been conned by a magic blue ring, and a devilishly good, smooth talking con man."

And Elena's jaw dropped to the ground, as Stefan was still unable to process the information in his brain. He tapped his temples with his fingers and then question, "By _blue ring_ and _con man_, do you mean¾" And he was interrupted by Damon's arrogant words. He walked up to me, stood by my side and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Yes, she does mean _me_. I'm the devilishly good _looking_; smooth talking con man who just tricked his way into her heart by using a magnificent magic Lapis Lazuli ring that wrapped around his finger." He whispered cockily to Stefan. I could see the disappointment in both Elena and Stefan's eyes, but instead of showing their direct feelings of concern and worry, they directed their icy glares of death toward Damon himself. I tried to shrug his arm off from my shoulder, but it clung on to me rougher than expected.

"How did this happen?" Elena asked unbelievingly, and when I was about to open my mouth in a response to her question, and for my need for explanation, Damon silence me with a finger to my lips and eyes that gazed through mine. I didn't know what had happened, but just like a while ago, his stares had caught me breathless. Only this time, it wasn't as magnetic and as forceful as earlier this night.

"Oh, you know…" He whispered as Elena almost charged for him when she noticed what Damon had did to me, and how he compelled me with one look in the eyes. Stefan wrapped his arms around Elena's waist to prevent her from doing any further damage to the arrogant boy in midnight ebony and elegant ivory. "I was just walking around the darkened hallways, and _Elaine_ over here happens to be exploring the shadowy patio,"

Damon's finger moved down my lips and then to my collar bones, brushing it with his finger tips. I saw Elena enflame herself with so much fury and anger that I would think she would explode in any second. I watched, completely still under his arms, I didn't know what I should do. I could see through Elena's eyes that she wished for me to just hold my ground and walk away, but I knew I couldn't. There was something that _didn't_ allow me to do that.

"When I was about to go back to the ballroom, Bonnie suddenly appeared and, I don't know… I forgot _everything else_ when I dropped," He said, and Elena and Stefan's eyes automatically turned to where Bonnie was standing, in the middle of the ballroom, waiting for the two of them. I saw Elena mutter something from under her breath that was too low of a frequency for me to hear.

Damon released me, and I was ready to take a few deep breaths again. I stood away from him, and from Elena and Stefan. I didn't know where I stood already. Was I with them, Elena and Stefan, who might hate me forever for disobeying simple orders? Or was I with Damon, whom I just met a few moments ago.

"Elaine eventually overheard what was happing, so she went over to come and check. We met, Bonnie ran away, we talked for a couple of minutes, we walked back here and then here we are, introducing ourselves to each other like we just recently met all over again." His voice mocked Elena and Stefan, but his stares were directed at me. I was still overwhelmed by this whole situation.

Damon turned to the bar to refill the two shot glasses we used a while ago with tequila, and handed one to me. He went to the back of the table, gave Mason a menacing smirk, took another two sets of shot glasses with him, refilled it, and gave them to Stefan and Elena. He raised his glass dramatically, and then announced, "It actually made me think. This all happened because of _Bonnie_." He added, and I smiled. Of course, he was correct with that fact. It was Bonnie refusing to help him that led to our meeting.

"Let's raise our glasses in honor of her, our _witchy_ best friend. Because if she wasn't there on the hallway, then Elaine and I would have _never_ met." He gave emphasis on the word _never_ and his eyes smiled with delight. Damon and I clicked our glasses together, said _'Cheers!'_ and shot our drinks down. Just like how I swallowed the drink he offered a while ago, it nearly made my mind spin. This was one _strong_ drink. I closed my eyes, quickly counted to ten and then came back to reality.

When I opened my eyes back again, I saw Elena and Stefan sharing the same look of anguish and disappointment, but this time, it was neither for me, nor for Damon. They were staring at each other, thinking about something, analyzing a problem with their looks. Stefan looked at me and said in a stern voice, "Um, excuse me for a short while, please?"

"Oh, sure." I smiled back, but seemed to me that they weren't very pleased with leaving me alone with Damon. I overheard Elena whisper in a frantic voice that, _'We shouldn't leave _her_ with him. Things could go wrong.'_ And I didn't know what she had meant by that. My eyes switched to look at Damon, and he was refilling his glass again. This guy's one hell of a drinker. I stared at him, and his eyes might have caught my glaze. He put his glass down and wrapped his arm an arm around my shoulder.

"Don't worry about them." He reassured me. "They might just be experiencing a rocky path in their relationship."

"It's actually not about that." I answered back, in a much _too_ rude voice. I muttered I'm sorry when I just realized he caught that and began taking deep breaths to calm myself down. There's something happening. There's something going on between Elena and Stefan, and I just know that Bonnie and even Damon here know what it is. I just knew they kept something from me, and it shouldn't be something they needed to keep secret from me. "I think they have a secret." I added, trying not to form a plural with him on it. "I think there's something they're not telling me."

And it caught Damon back, his eyes widened in shock in comprehension of what I just said. I didn't know what it was that surprised him, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with being in on the secret, along with Bonnie, Stef and Elena. His face and his expressions gave it away. He may be one secretive son of a gun, who may try and keep his thoughts under control, but I think his eyes just told me the opposite of what he's been thinking the whole conversation.

But then, I heard Elena's shrilly, high voice when they were far enough away, and back to talking with Bonnie. "Bonnie, what have you done?" She asked her best friend, and I think she just glanced at us. She gave Damon a far of glare which I've seen her give him before. Just a while ago when he was still… injured? My head tilted up to look at Damon, and he was smirking, sipping his drink. _Okay, what's going on here?_


	17. Chapter 16: The Truth  Part I

**Chapter 16: **The Truth: Part I

**Elena's POV**

"You _what_?" I asked frantically with my hands on my head, raking my hair wildly as I felt my teeth grind with each other through frustration. How could she do this? How could she be so reckless, _careless?_ After all Stefan and I have been through to prevent her from meeting her worst mistake, it all disappeared into thin air because of Bonnie's little _slip_ with Damon and her emotions. Stefan held on to my waist as I frantically tried to move out from his grasp. I wasn't about to tell him to let me go, because I might not _know_ what I could do to Bonnie once I get my hands on her.

Bonnie took a few steps back with her hands raised in front of her in surrender. "Elena, I'm truly and _sincerely_ sorry for this _huge_ mistake. I wasn't thinking, a-a-and my emotions got the best of me and," She stuttered as the big emerald eyes found beneath her peacock blue masked drowned in a flood of worry. I saw water beginning to form in them, and I knew that she really didn't mean it, but… "I'm really sorry." _They have already met._

"Damon just irritated the hell out of me, and I know he was going in to follow Elaine around, so I made the first move that popped up in my head and decided to give him an aneurysm. Fortunate for me, he was overcome by his own pain, but afterwards, Elaine must've heard him screaming so she unknowingly appeared from the shadowed patio and," She continued as a tear began trailing down her cheek and must've calmed under Stefan's arms. When he saw that I had relaxed, he let go of me, and I took a few steps closer to Bonnie, and wrapped my arms around her.

"It's alright, Bonnie. It wasn't your fault, not _most_ of it anyway. It was the consequences from her upstage performance that drew everyone's attention to her. If that hadn't happened, I'm pretty sure Damon would still know _nothing_ about her." I whispered to her ear, as I heard her sniffle. She was getting really cold and I could feel her back vibrate every time she would take a deep breath, and I'd begin tapping a hand gently on her shoulders. "It's alright, it's alright." I muttered silently, and she began calming down.

"But it _is_ my fault, Elena. Elaine couldn't be held responsible for her actions because she _doesn't know_. She doesn't know about our world, the world of vampires, werewolves and _witches_. We're in charge of her, because apparently she's in _our world_ and no one's in charge of our world but us. She got discovered because of me and my carelessness." Her voice broke and shattered into a million pieces as the tears on her face that began as droplets turned into a river of disappointment. She carefully shoved me away when she said this, and it actually broke my heart to see her eyes. "It's all my fault and I have to fix this, and I gotta talk to Damon about¾"

"No, there will be _no more_ conversations-with-Damon for you." I interrupted, placing a finger up in defense. "It's tearing us apart, Bonnie. This whole Elaine meeting Damon thing. We've spent so much time preventing it when we could've spent the time planning on how¾"

"We could _control_ it." Stefan immediately interfered with my plan, but strangely continued it with the exact same words I was about to say. I was about to ask him on how he figured out what I would say next, when he proceeded to his point. "It's like with me and blood. I should've learned how to control it, instead of totally _dieting_ from taking it, and I've learned my lesson on that experience. Maybe we took the wrong turn to this too." And I didn't really understand what he's telling me, so he explained it into further comprehension.

"In other terms, we should've just let what should happen, happen, and see where it leads to. If it turns out fruitful, then let it be like that, even though we might have to keep an eye on them for quite a while. And if it turns out into one of the most horrible mistakes we might _ever_ make, then let's abort the situation, and erase the part in their brains that actually programmed them to remember that they've even met." And that's when I got it, and Bonnie too.

"But what could I do to help? It is my fault anyways."

"Nothing. Keeping control of your emotions with Damon is enough. And maybe helping us continue make an alibi for the secret would be helpful too." Stefan answered her calmly and she just nodded in reply. "But first of all, I think we should analyze how much damage is made. Ask them a few questions, and figured out how much of the truth we could stretch."

"Sure, I'd go for Elaine, and you go for Damon. Eventually, they might listen to us."

"No, I already tried that with Damon a while ago. He refuses to answer any questions from me, and I think I have to threaten him before he tells me the truth. I'll just need to¾"

"How about I go for Damon and you for Elaine?" I interrupted him rudely. "I mean, Damon _refuses_ to lie to me, and I don't think Elaine has the guts to even lie to you. It'd be the perfect plan." I added, but then he opened his mouth to protest, with words I know far too much about. "And don't even think about it being dangerous. Damon would never do anything to hurt me as much, _intentionally_, I mean. He won't do that to you. He's your brother." I placed my hands on either sides of Stefan's face and whispered finally, "Trust me."

He eventually did, and just held my hand tight in his as we departed from our place in the middle of the ballroom and went to go to the couple back at the bar. Elaine and Damon were eventually talking, and when Damon caught me in his peripheral, I cocked my head to the hallway and invited him to have a talk. Damon excused himself from Elaine and walked towards me. When Damon was far enough away, Stefan stepped in and took Damon's place in the chair where he tried investigating for things.

"What do you want, Elena?" He asked way too rudely, his eyes were filled with utter boredom.

"Just come with me, we need to have a talk." I answered and began making my way back to the hallway Bonnie defined to me as the place where he found Damon uncannily following Elaine around, trying to track her down. The sounds began drowning from my earshot, and I think it was a place quiet enough for a one on one talk.

"You're here to ask me about Elaine, aren't you?" His eyes suspiciously narrowed as he crossed his arms on his chest, arching one of his eyebrows upward. I was nervous, and I unknowingly placed my hands on my skirt and began crumpling in my too shaky hands. I kept my face straight and clear of emotions as I nodded. "Go ahead, ask your questions."

I knew that I was nervous, but I didn't know the reason why. Why was I shaking like it was our first time meeting? Why do goose bumps cover my entire body as if I don't know him, as if he was a stranger? I shook myself back to reality and then thought surely of my first question. "How did you guys meet?"

Damon stifled a low and husky chuckle, and rolled his eyes afterwards. "Oh you know. Same old techniques. Conversation and such."

"I'm serious." I answered back, and he flinched at the sharpness of how I pronounced those words. My eyes narrowed as I sent him glares of irritability behind my mask, and he happens to be enjoying every bit of my frustration. He stepped forward and replied.

"It's the same old information I just told you a while ago. I was in the hallway, I had the migraine, Elaine came by, she drove Bonnie away, and now we're having the happiest friendship she's ever got since she first got here." He said with a monotonous voice that was wrapped in boredom, until his last words began sounding off more sarcastic than bored. His eyes glazed at me, uninterested, but then a fire caught to his eyes when I mouthed, _more details_.

He gave a loud sigh and placed his hands inside his pockets again. Everything was quiet, not even the sounds of the nocturnal animals sounded here outside. It was dark, and I could only see his shadows, but as my pupils begin to adjust, and my vision began clearing up, I began seeing him more and more clearly. "Here it goes,"

"I actually followed her after her song, which, by the way, perkily caught my attention. She cleared up after talking to you and came here for a moment of quiet. I was about to go after her and just start a _nice_ conversation," He paused a while as I smiled in disbelief that he just wanted a _nice talk_ with her. I rolled my eyes, and when I noticed that he stopped his explanation because of my miniature reaction, I motioned my hands to tell him to just continue. "When Katherine showed up." And this time, he _intentionally_ paused to observe my reaction.

My jaw dropped and I felt my heart race beneath my chest. I knew I had to warn Stefan as soon as I heard the words _'Katherine'_ and _'Showed up'_. I was about to turn in my heels, and walk back to the ballroom to tell him what I've figured out when Damon caught a hold of my arm and shook his head. "I'm not yet finished, and trust me, it has a _happy ending_." He smirked and I couldn't understand if he meant the truth, or he was just playing with me. I turned to face him fully and waited for him to continue his _story_.

"It was a pretty _bloody_ confrontation with a crazy ex girlfriend. What would you expect? It ended up with me threatening to end her, throwing her Lapis Lazuli across the horizon and her driving a stake through here," He pointed to the region that lies just in between his chest and his abdomen. "Then she took off, trying to find that majestically blue ring hidden in dark grass under a midnight _blue_ sky." He added with a toothless grin spread across his face, and I finally relaxed.

"Then after that, I had this huge _blood stain_ on my shirt that was _impossible_ to miss, so I was thinking of leaving early to change into a new set of clothes, when I came across Little Miss Judgy Witch back there," He defined Bonnie with hateful look beneath his eyes. "She told me something about not going near Elaine, but she pushed herself _way_ to hard on me, and I eventually _threatened_ her into shutting up. But you know what happens when I threaten her, don't you?" He asked rhetorically, and did the _eye thing_ he usually does wherein he combines the narrowing of his eyes, the smirking of his lips, and the arching of his eyebrows. "Threats + Bonnie = Terrible Migraine." He answered.

"So, yeah, it hurt, _a lot_. And if it hadn't been that painful, I wouldn't have to _apologize_ that loud, and Elaine wouldn't have heard me. So she rushed over, asked Bonnie why she wasn't helping me, and realization finally struck her, that she just made a _much too big of a mistake_ that led to our meeting, so she ran away. Elaine helped me up and offered to _fix me_." And his tone _totally_ caught me off guard. It made me want to claw his face off, if it were possible. The perverted way his tongue rolled in order to form the words almost drove me off edge, and I know he could my blood pressure rising up. He laughed.

"Don't get so worked up about it. You may not know it, but the girl has self control, even without the necklace on." He placed his hands on my shoulders and tried calming me down, but the peculiar simper on his face just counteracted the part of me that believes. "_You may not believe how good she is with her hands_ _and her mouth_," He added, and those words just fumed me up even more. _What the hell, Damon! _I wanted to scream to his face, but his fingers covered my lips.

"She managed to wash my clothes and make up very fine conversation in a span of 20 minutes." He whispered. "You shouldn't have assumed too much before a person could finish what they say." He backed away and then finished with his final sentence. "After that, we just talked about couple other things¾"

"Like being a vampire?" I asked him suspiciously but he shook his head, and he had no more answer to add to my question. And that part, I misunderstood. Why didn't he do it? Why didn't he expose him for what he really is, if he was so proud of himself, why didn't he do it? I tilted my head in confusion and just watched him as he decided not to lock his eyes with mine. "But why?"

"Why didn't you do it?" I asked him again, contemplating the well hidden expression he tried concealing under his mask, but his eyes just said different things. I've never seen him like this before. He was usually the first to the girl, marking his territory on her with a few bite marks, but seeing him like this was _different_. I didn't know how, or what, but I think his answer did it.

"I don't think it is necessary information to share." His voice was flat, and his lips were in a straight line. His face made no other emotion and he remained still with his head on the ground. Okay, let me rephrase what I just said a while ago. His answer didn't give me a clue on what was making him different, but the way he said the words did. "She doesn't need to know any of this."

"You know, why are you so concerned on whatever I tell her? Why are you so concerned about the fact that I might _not_ have told her?" He added defensively, actually defensive enough that he might actually be assumed of having to _care_ for my cousin whom he just met a couple of minutes ago, or is that possible? I don't think so. The last time I knew Damon Salvatore cared was when she came to help Caroline. He cares, and he just doesn't want to _admit_ that he does.

"I'm actually not as concerned as how you think I am." I whispered to him. "I'm only wondering why you would?" I muttered gently under my breath. "I don't really care if it's because you just fell in love with her, or you actually discovered a part in yourself that actually _cares_ about her. Whatever¾"

"Wait a minute. Who told you anything about me being in love with her? Isn't that psychotically crazy?" He asked, and this time, he was back to his own self again. He kept on asking questions with that annoying tone in his voice, mocking and teasing every word that comes out from my mouth. His eyes began working themselves up my nerves too. I always didn't like the way he expressed himself, but risking messing everything up isn't worth it. I have to know the truth about his new found attitude.

"Well, I mean, you are 'psychotically crazy' but, fine. Say whatever you want to say, Damon. It's up to you now. She only has a remainder of 60 years, or less to live this lifetime, and you have a whole eternity. Waste it all in your nonsense defense statements on how you typically _think_ that you don't care. If you want it that way, then fine. It's your choice." I added, gaining a serious tone in my voice. "Time may be worthless to you, but its treasure to her. She doesn't have forever, you know?"

And instead of answering, Damon actually just turned and walked back to the ballroom. Those were one of those instances that you wanted to record because you might not know when they might ever happen again. It may only be a once in _his_ lifetime opportunity, and we might not see any of this other side of Damon.

So, is it true then? Does he have feelings for my cousin? That is an oddly weird statement, but considering the fact on how devoted Damon could be if he really put his mind into it, it could really change your perspective on things. I didn't want to ruin the moment for any of us, so I just watched him disappear back into the crowd in the ballroom, and shortly followed after.

Stefan was right. '_Controlling it was better than preventing it_,' this might turn out better than we expected. _'Or not_.' We'll never know unless we try, but I care about my cousin to a level much higher than that, which is just out of the question. Jeopardizing her life was not worth the knowledge to some hypothesis. _I guess we'll never know_.


	18. Chapter 17: Toxic

**Chapter 17: **Toxic

**Damon's POV**

_So did I?_ Did I care? Was I beginning to care? No, it couldn't be. That's _impossible_. I haven't cared since 1864, and I think living 145 years of being a cold and heartless dick cancelled that part of me that cared. I've been repeatedly reminded of that untruthful opinion by my brother and by Elena herself, and yet I couldn't find it in me to accept the fact that it might _be_ true.

Counting the numerous times that I've showed vulnerability and exposed humane emotions and feelings that I've denied was _unthinkable_, but reminiscing on them was quite a moment. Trying to save Stefan when he was unexpectedly abducted by the tomb vampires, along with Rick and Elena, and the superlative worry showing on Elena's eyes when I just told her that there was no more hope for Stefan inside the house. I didn't know I had it in me, to show concern, but I probably do, inside the messed up part of my mind that just keeps on banging on locked doors.

I could already see the look that was probably plastered all over Elena's beautiful face under that mask. The victorious smirk that pulled up on her pink lips, and how her eyes smiled along to the thought that there might be a small probability that I might _completely_ change. Well, for me, there really is no complete _change of heart_. I'd still be the same arrogant, egotistic and narcissistic vampire with a horrible sense of _dark humor_, but I'm pretty sure they'd still love me for that.

I came back to the ballroom with my usual smirk playing on my lips when I saw Stefan having a conversation with Elaine. _Oh, so this was the big plan they were talking about earlier_. Stefan would go talk to Elaine, and ask her for a couple of the horrible things that he might _think_ I'd poison Elaine's brain with, and then Elena would come talk to me to ask what lies she thinks I _might_ be plastering onto Elaine's brain. They're smarter than I've expected, but they're way to assuming.

"Well, thanks for the interesting conversation, Elaine." I heard Stefan tell her within my earshot. I rolled my eyes and continued taking paced steps till' I heard Stefan whisper an additional reminder to her. "If I were you, I'd be careful with my brother. He's a little _unstable_, and sometimes, _inappropriate_." And that just straight-to-the-point made the both of us laugh. _How _desperate_ could my brother _actually_ be?_

"I don't think you should worry about that, Stefan. I had my _own_ experiences with guys like him. I think I could manage to _renew_ his attitudes, even without him thinking I'm taking control of his life." She managed to say in between laughter, and Stef raised an eyebrow at her. She managed to say in between laughter, and Stef raised an eyebrow at her. She managed to say in between laughter, and Stef raised an eyebrow at her. "Lots of practice. I'd give you a call if anything else goes wrong." She added and then Stefan gave her a soft tap on the shoulder, and was off to meet Elena, who unknowingly beat me to the center of the ballroom.

_Oh, so she could tame beasts. Let's see if she could discipline this one_.

I observed Elaine for a moment, what her movements was like. They say that body language is one way of communicating, even though there are no words to be said. All you have to do, is watch her exact movements, and you could already tell what she's saying. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.

She seemed to be twisting and turning her head a lot, as if she was looking for something. And then her eyes stopped to look at a watch. Her shoulders rose, and then lowered in a sigh. She crossed her arms over her chest and then her feet began tapping on the floor. I could tell she was impatient. Then, when no one came to her, she called off the wolf boy's attention.

"Psst," She motioned her fingers for Mason to come forward, and he willingly obliged. She tapped her fingers on the table, waiting for Mason to get to her, and as soon as he did, she pointed to the mini fridge on the other side of the table. "Chuck me a can of coke," She ordered in a soft voice that almost counteracted the fact that she was _ordering_ him to do it, without a 'please'.

My eyes narrowed as I watched from afar how Mason took a can of coke out of the fridge and tossed it to her within an impressive distance, and her catching it agilely with one hand. "Thanks," She added and then opened the can with one hand, she didn't even need a glass. She poured the coke down and then gave a sweet smile to Mason as he watched her weird behavior.

I quitted watching her and just walked quickly to her. When she saw me, she put the coke down and her smile widened. I took a seat at the stool right beside her. I placed my elbow on the table and leaned my chin on my palm as I gazed into her light blue eyes. She took a sip from her coke, but when my eyes locked to her, I think she just discontinued her breathing. I let out a low chuckle. I could already hear her reply of 'What are you looking at?' to me, and myself answering her with a perfectly witty remark, but that question wasn't what came out of her mouth.

"You want to know about Stefan and I's little conversation earlier, don't you." And that caught me a little off guard. My eyes widened in surprise that she could actually read minds. I tried to hide my expression, but it seems like she'd already seen it. She giggled, "It's alright. I've just had a lot of experience with people being curious about what I talk about with other people. I think I already know the look of _that_ face before."

"Wow, you're a genius." I smiled back at her. "So, Are you gonna tell me what my baby bro just told you a little while back?"

"Sure." This is going to be _one_ hell of a story, though I wish she'd tell me the whole truth without anything on the back of her mind. I want someone who wouldn't try anything funny on the first date, counted as _this_ might be our first date. "First of all, Stefan asked me, 'What did Damon do to you?' and that one was _really_ easy. I told him 'nothing', I mean, 'nothing drastic yet'." And I narrowed my eyes at her for a moment, with doubt.

"Enlighten me, Ms. Gilbert." My voice almost sang in a tune, as I watched her eyes a lot closer, searching for any lies that may come across her mind to make. She took another sip from her coke, and placed it down.

"Well, I told him that we talked a little about ourselves. You know, first meeting things like favorites and hobbies and such." Her lips puckered at emphasizing the last word. "Then he asked how you got me to take off the necklace, and I told him that we exchanged. I took a look at your ring, and you took a look at my necklace. He seemed _really_ pissed at the fact that I was stupid enough to fall for that." I laughed at that remark, though my undead blood did _boil_ at the thought of Stefan calling Elena's cousin _stupid._

"Don't worry, he didn't say anything to me. I just read the way his eyes sparked an emotion of disappointment, soI kind of took that as _that_." She added, looking down at her hands that were gently placed on her lap, where the blood red dress draped. "Then, I also told him about the part where you tried to get a kiss from me, but I didn't give it. He laughed at that part and said, 'Well, that's Damon. Always trying to get what he wants.' I had no problem absorbing _that_ information." She repeated what Stefan told her in her best _St. Stefan Impression_, and it just warmed my heart that I wasn't the only one capable of making fun of my brother.

"Okay, so after that, what did he ask you next?"

"He also asked me, 'What did Damon _tell _you?' And I answered that unhesitant with almost the most shallow type of information you could get." She said, and I could tell that it was the truth because neither her body moved suspiciously, or her heart increased in speed. She was _definitely_ telling the truth. "I told him about how you introduced yourself. Dark shirt kind of guy, edgy, born October 31st, 8 years older than him, all that necessary slum book type of stuff, then there was a couple of personal heart-to-heart stuff, but¾" She paused and then looked into my eyes with a genuine smile on her lips. "I told him that it was private, and I wouldn't want my secrets to be exhibited to the public, so I just told him it was between me and you."

And the way she said that, she really had the sincerity in her eyes, and her heart didn't beg to differ either. Her heartbeat didn't speed up when she answered, and either she was really good at keeping track of her emotions, or her intentions were clearly pure. I admired that. The way her actions went along with the words that she said, unlike some who talk too much, but don't put their words into actions. I couldn't exactly identify what expression was stuck on my face at the moment. Was there a hint of exuberance on my face, or was there sheer astonishment that I actually found someone who was _different_ from the others. The others, who were impassive enough to even keep applying pain to an already torn up heart.

I was flabbergasted with her words that I couldn't even continue my question, but her high school girl giggle interrupted that. "I'm guessing you're going to ask what _he_ asked next. And to answer you mentally passed out question, the last question that he asked was, _and I quote_, 'Was Damon nice to you, or did he try any funny stuff?'," I didn't know what answer would she give that question with because the last time I remembered, I actually controlled her to forcibly _kiss_ me with my mind compulsion, that didn't even work. And when I really had the chance to compel her into doing it, I chickened out because I saw something in her that told me that she had to remember me.

I stared deep into her chocolate brown eyes and just waited for her to answer. She cleared her throat and then continued, "I told him no. If being actually asked if he could kiss me, without him actually forcing me into doing it, was counted as _'not funny stuff'_, then my answer is 'no'. Actually, that was his _final_ question." She paused and then leaned her head on the table. "You know, with all these Q and A things going on, I'd actually mistake Stefan as a psychologist, checking my brain if there were any mental defects or anything."

"So, how about you? What did _my_ cousin ask you? I'm pretty sure Stef and her planned this when they figured out we just met. I don't think they like the fact that we're communicating and getting to know each other, and I think I've already figured out why." Figures. Stef just couldn't keep his mouth shut. I rolled my eyes and then waited. "So, what did she ask?"

"Well, for starters, she basically asked the same questions Stefan asked you. She asked me what I did to you, and we had the same answer of course. She also asked if I told you anything worth believing, like Stefan's secret obsession with woodland creatures." I whispered to her jokingly, and she stifled a sweet giggle. She smiled at me widely and then waited for me to continue.

"She also asked if I was nice to you, and I _definitely_ said yes, even if you were to think otherwise."

"You weren't mean to me, I remembered every moment that we had since we first spoke to each other."She commented and then her eyes flickered toward me. "You just gave a lot of witty and cocky remarks. Too bad I'm totally used to them. I know _tons_ of people back home that roll the way you do." She added. "What else did she ask?"

"She asked how we met, and that one took a lot of energy from me to explain." I told her as I narrated to her every moment of how the night began, leaving out the whole _headache_ from Bonnie thing, and the meeting with the _grungy_ ex. She wouldn't take me seriously if I told her the truth about the whole vampire thing, and I also don't think that she'd actually believe me unless I _show_ her my true self. I took a deep breath, and she followed afterwards.

"Oh, yeah. Speaking of that incident, how's your stab? Is it getting any better?" She asked, moving her hands over to my abdomen, but stopped midway when she realized that it was too _personal-space-invading_. She pulled her hand back, and I saw her face flush red with embarrassment. A witty comment popped in my head, and my mouth just had to say it. It was in my nature to be _sarcastic_.

"Look how eager you are to put your hands all over me. All you have to do is ask. I'd gladly oblige." I said sarcastically, narrowing my eyes at her and giving her a crooked smirk. It was what Elena called as my _'eye thing'_. I knew that it made her heart race deep inside her veins, and I knew that it'd work on anyone. But when I used it at Elaine, it was as if nothing even happened. Her heart didn't race in irritation or annoyance. It kept it's normal beating pace even though I saw her eyes role a whole 360° degrees. I was seriously looking forward to see her angry, just as much as I enjoyed seeing Elena angry, but only irritation radiated off of her.

"Yeah, right. I've already seen you half naked, and it didn't even do the slightest amount of _spine tingling_ or _goose bump rising_ on me. I guess you just have to do better." She shot back, and I just recognized a playful smirk play across my lips. _She fights back, good_. _I do enjoy having a verbal sarcastic feud with Elena, but I guess having it with her would be more blissful_.

"I guess so. I probably need to remember to do better in seducing. In fact, how about next time, you do it with me. It's only fair. You've seen me shirtless, I need to see you shirtless to." I replied, leaning in closer to her face with every word that came out from my mouth, and she seemed to be playing along. She smiled at me when our lips were closed to touching and whispered, "Not a chance." And then pulled away with her laughter echoing in my ears.

Her laugh continuously flooded the atmosphere as old classical music filled the room as well. She looked beautiful in a ray of sunshine that was her happiness. The bright smiles that radiated off of her was completely overwhelming. I never knew so much amount of joy could come from one person. But then I realized, what if I told her about the whole vampire thing? I mean, surely she has to know, because someday she might figure it out all by herself. She's a smart one who could compile the information in her own little ways. Telling her would ruin her life, and the amount of joy she had in her. But letting her free and ignorant would only get her confused and easier to get to, just like Jenna. What was I supposed to do now?

I hadn't noticed that we had been in silence for quite a while, and that her eyes were on me. Usually, I'd know when people are staring at me because their heartbeats would speed up. Why wouldn't it? Look at me, I am _gorgeous_. I could possibly make any heart race with just a blink of an eye. I had my hands in my pocket as I stared at her with narrowed eyes, and she seemed to stare back at me with the same look in her face. But then suddenly, she shifted and became serious.

"Damon," She whispered and her eyes held onto me like I was being compelled. She had me locked, and I could feel her breathing became uneven. Her shoulders began rising up and down rhythmically, as she kept her eyes on mine. "Could you tell me the truth?" It was a question I hadn't expected someone to ask me in a long while. I was waiting for the reason why she decided to ask me, of all the people, but then she interrupted my thoughts with her words. "It's a simple yes or no question cause' it seems like nobody wants to fill me in." Oh no, this cannot be good.

Her eyes were filled with nothing but complete curiosity as they begged me for the truth. I simply nodded my head hesitantly as I blankly stared at her with my eyes narrowed. I need to hide the emotion of vulnerability before she discovers the weak spot I had for sincere words and new friendships that I've recently found out that I had. The near frown that covered my face smoothed when she asked her mind racking question, because for once, I wasn't sure if I should lie or tell the truth.

"Are they hiding something from me?" She asked softly as her lips slowly moved to form the words. I seriously didn't know what I was supposed to answer. The thought that flowed in my mind a while ago kept ringing back to me. If I told her the truth, it would ruin her life. If I prevented the truth, she'd be ignorant and a be lot easier to fool. What was the best choice I could make for now? I racked myself mentally to quickly decided my answer when I just unsurely nodded. 'Yes'.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as I saw her chest heave up and down once as she tried to collect herself. After that movement, she asked once again. "Are you hiding something from me?" And the look in her eyes were just breathtakingly heartbreaking. She necessarily needed to know the truth, and from the looks of her fragile warrior eyes and extinguished the fire that sparked in them, she was determined to know the truth. This question gave me a longer time to ponder upon. I knew that she wouldn't be able to tell that I'm lying to her, but it would just be another way of elongating the period of time that she has to wait for to know the original story. I nodded yes in reply again.

Her eyes closed for a long moment, and she tilted her head down. I have disappointed her, and it pained me to see her like that, even though I knew that we have just known each other for a short while. But there was this part in me that whispered as if I have known her for a very long time. I also figured out that this was the very instance that happened a century and a half ago that led to my transformation. If I hadn't fallen that fast for a woman I knew little about, such a mess wouldn't have been made.

But I felt that this time was different. I didn't know what came over me to think so, but it was.

"Okay," She whispered, and that was what brought me back into reality. My head snapped up and my eyes met hers. They had an endless depth of mysteriousness in them, but her lips were pulled up into a soft smile. "Thank you, Damon. For telling me the truth." And I almost didn't believe it then. I almost didn't believe the fact that she believed the answers I had for her, when she apparently wasn't sure if I was telling the truth or not. I almost didn't believe the fact that she might not have been interested by the truth after all. She wasn't questioning me, or anything. She kept her silence.

"Aren't you going to ask me any more specific questions regarding your thoughts?" And she just shook her head automatically. A puzzling look of 'Why?' crossed to my face, and as soon as her eyes got to study mine, she answered immediately to avoid any more misunderstanding. She sighed and then explained.

"I promise that it will only be a yes or no question. The truth is _really_ important to me, but promises seem better than the truth. I always stay true to my promise." She declared with a small smile on her face. My eyebrows furrowed, and I just nodded with a pout. The truth really meant that much to her, and it made me think of telling her about the whole vampire thing. Maybe she would believe me instantly, and maybe I wouldn't even have to put up a show for her. It'd be easy.

I'd ask her to remove the necklace quickly, and then I'd tell her about the whole thing. If she eventually _doesn't_ believe me, I will show her my true nature, and if she just faints in utter fear, I guess I'd just have to compel her into forgetting everything I've told her from the beginning where I asked her to remove hr necklace. It was as easy as that. All I need to do now was to isolate her form this crowd. But before I could even speak, she interrupted me again, and I don't think I could handle any more of this whole _'interrupting'_ thing, but I think I'd let it slide for now, after absorbing what she had to say, I have to _at least_ be flattered about it.

"Hey, I wanna sing a song for you up stage." She got hold of my hands and then squeezed them softly, and I was kind of confused for a moment. I wasn't confused about the part that made her want to sing me a song. I mean, I am one of the _greatest people alive_. I deserve it, I was confused at the fact that I might not be as threatening as I thought I am, having an ordinary teenage girl invade my space like that? Either it was that, or she just wasn't like any other girl I've met here, and trust me I've met a _lot_ of them. A smirk grew on my face and I leaned in to whisper something to hear, and this time, I made myself move _painstakingly_ slow.

I pulled my hands away from her grip gently and then placed them on her neck, slowly tracing patterns on the base of her throat, and just like I've planned, I've finally been able to make her heart race once again. I was beginning to think I've lost my touch. I smirked just before her skin, and then whispered, "Go on, do what you gotta do." And I pulled away from her. I saw her face flush a deep shade of red, and her eyes refused to lock on mine. I just knew she couldn't handle me.

She made her way through the crowd until she reached the stage on the other side of the room, and I witnessed how the Maestro appreciated her arrival with a warm hug. She whispered something to him and she nodded. She climbed the small set of stairs that was on the side of the stage and went to the center to get the microphone, but before she even spoke up, a crowd already began giving her applause. She laughed through the microphone, and her laughter filled the room as everything became silent.

"Hey guys," She smiled as she held the stand in her hands. "So I'm back on stage, and I'm sorry if I keep on interrupting your oldies music." The crowd reacted positively on her stopping the boring classical that flowed through the atmosphere. "I just came up for one song, I guess I just can't stop once I start." She laughed again and looked behind her shoulder. The people standing behind her were confused, and she lifted her hand in front of her in signal for them to 'Wait'. "I just wanted to devote this song for someone I met tonight."

The crowd gave high pitched teasing cries and she bowed her head modestly. "No guys, it's not like that. We're friends." And the crowds rolled their eyes in disbelief. _What an interactive crowd_, I thought to myself. "So, here it goes. You guys could sing along if you know it." She turned around as the crowds waited in anticipation, and so did I. I watched her movement.

She lifted her right arm in front of her and began forming hand signals on them with her fingers on the left hand. Where they, _chords_? She gave them the signals, and the strings understood it perfectly. Then she moved to the man who handled percussion. She began moving her arms around, up and down, as if she was playing the drums. She raised her thumbs up in question if he comprehended it fully, and he nodded. That was it, she moved to the center with a smile on her face. Then she signaled the band behind her, _one, two, three, four_:

_Baby, can't you see I'm calling? A guy like you should wear a warning. It's dangerous, I'm falling._

_There's no escape. I can't wait. I need a hint. Baby, give me it. You're dangerous, I'm loving it._

_Too high, can't come down. Losing my head, spinning 'round and 'round._

_Do you feel me now?_

_With the taste of your lips I'm on a ride. You're toxic, I'm slipping under._

_Taste of the poison paradise, I addicted to you, don't you know that you're toxic?_

_And I love what you do, don't you know that you're toxic?_

_It's getting late to give you up. I took a sip from my devil's cup slowly, it's taking over me._

_Too high, can't come down. It's in the air and it's all around._

_Can you feel me now?_

_With the taste of your lips I'm on a ride. You're toxic, I'm slipping under._

_Taste of the poison paradise, I addicted to you, don't you know that you're toxic?_

_And I love what you do, don't you know that you're toxic?_

_Intoxicate me now, with your loving now. I think I'm ready now. I think I'm ready now._

It was Britney Spears' _'Toxic'_, and eventually the whole room's blood pressure began rising, their hearts speeding up. I could already feel the blood running freely in their veins. The song made a couple of these people pumped up, and a little bit crazy. The song ended and Elaine faced me from the stage and delivered a wave. I gave her a smirk and waved back as I saw a couple of people turn their heads to follow the direction to where she motioned to.

She spoke into the microphone. "Thanks for telling me the truth, Damon." She added and the whole crowd continued to cheer. I felt my forehead crumple again. So, what now? She just sang me a song in the middle of hundreds of people in a masquerade ball, just for telling her the truth. I think I better tell her the whole vampire thing now. She deserves to know.

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE*****

_Okay, guys I think this is a little OOC for Damon, but I have something that could prove that it's not too _OOC_. Everyone has another side to them, a soft side, and of course, even the dashing Damon Salvatore has this side, though he only shows it to selected amount of people. The vulnerability in Damon when he looked in her eyes is something that you wouldn't see anywhere else. Well, this might be one of the longest chapters I've written yet cause' it's filled with so much of these OOC things. I hope you enjoy it anyway._


	19. Chapter 18: The Truth Part II

**Chapter 18: **The Truth: Part II

**Elaine's POV**

That performance was overwhelmingly electrifying. It shook me to the core, having to perform a Britney Spears song like that, and it was one of my favorites. I took one big bow and then went down the stage, eying the bar. I ran back there but to my surprise, Damon was nowhere to be found. I looked around, all over the place, but I only saw colorful masks that surrounded me.

I made my way around the room, unsure of where I should go. I let my mind fly away from me, and just let my legs do all the moving. I glided through the crowd, and then just a couple of feet away from me, I saw Elena and Stefan who were both talking to Damon. They haven't noticed me coming, and I guess I should just interrupt them. She's my cousin anyway.

When I got close enough, I began focusing on them, and I overheard their conversation. Stefan's brooding voice was upset, and Elena's was filled with worried and concern. Then, I heard Damon's voice which was just filled with a mixture of persuasion and a hint of something else. I couldn't put a finger on it, on what it was. His voice was soft, and it lacked arrogance and sarcastic remarks. Their conversation was serious, and I could hear it from a short distance, so I paused.

"No, Damon, you're not going to do such thing." Stefan ordered him.

"Stefan, she needs to know the truth. Her ignorance may be bliss, but it could also lead her to the unthinkable. Letting her in on the secret would help us protect her from Katherine more. She'd be aware of what's happening, and she'd be less prone to danger. Having her _not_ _know_ is doubling the people that might actually _die_." Damon said and I froze. Katherine. That was the name of the girl that Caroline mistaken me for earlier this night. The one she said that reminded me of her. _Were they talking about me_? Elena looked at him with a concerned look on her face.

"But having her in this is putting a lot at risk too. She looks like Elena, and Katherine would have much interest in that fact. It's best to keep her under the radar." Stefan argued back, but it seems like Damon is unmoved and unconvinced. He shook his head automatically. That was the sentence that confirmed that they _were_ talking about me. I became a lot curious when I figured that out, but I promised Damon that I wouldn't ask any more questions.

"I agree with neither of you." Elena interrupted with a soft voice that was barely hearable. Stefan and Damon turned their heads to Elena and their faces twisted with confusion. "I don't actually know what we're gonna do. Both ideas sound like they both could go downhill. I'm not really sure if we should tell her, or not." She paused and then gave a sigh. "If we tell her, she might not take it easily. If we don't, she might get in trouble. What are we supposed to do?" And that was when I've decided that I heard enough conversations about me.

I walked up to them and tried composing myself. I didn't want them to know that I overheard their entire conversation. I need to calm myself down cause these people might figure me out. Just when Stefan was about to speak, I tapped Damon on the shoulder and Stefan caught sight of me. I saw Elena flinch and their eyes scanned me, three pairs of them. I greeted them with a smile and asked, "So guys. What are we talking about here?" I made sure I looked confused and inattentive enough to not understand.

"Nothing, Elaine, don't worry about it. I'm sure everything's fine." Elena reassured me as she said this with a sigh. I noticed Stefan and Damon's eyes never left me. I could already see their foreheads crumple right under the mask as they tried to figure out what they should do. Should they tell me the unheard of secret they've been talking about, or should they not? I felt my smile fade away, and Damon pulled his gaze away from me to look at Stefan. They probably might be communicating through each other's eyes. And when I saw Stefan look back at Elena and she nodded, I just knew what was coming after me next.

"Guys, what's going on?" I asked the three of them again, as if uncomprehending their earlier overheard conversation. I felt someone take my hand gently and drag me away from the group. I tilted my head a little bit to see Damon's determined face, his eyes were blank and his lips formed a straight line. I looked behind me to see Elena gathered up in Stefan's warm touch. "What's going on, Damon?"

"We need to go some place quite. I need to tell you something." He said in a low, monotonous voice. We went through the noisy crowd until we went back to the dark hallways where we first met. He still continued to drag me forward, as my legs tried to catch up with him. We passed by the bathroom and then we went to the patio, but it seemed that we didn't stop there. He continued to pull me to one of the darkest regions of the patio, a place that was hard to come through to. All I saw were hedges and plants and bushes and shrubs, and I figured that we were really far away from the ballroom because I could hardly hear the music anymore. All I heard were the sounds of the creatures that made noises in the night, the trees and the branches creaking loudly, and of course, my breathing.

We stopped when we were in the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by all these green vegetation. It was dark, and the only light that provided us was the small lamp that hung above our heads. This place was like the maze in the 'Dracula' movie, only this time, I'm not in here with a vampire. I shuddered at that thought, the thought of being in an isolated place with a vampire. People wouldn't be able to hear me scream. But isn't screaming just a waste of energy? I mean, you would anyway, why make it a lot more complicated.

Just then I remembered that Damon was actually with me, but when I turned my head to meet his eyes and ask him again what's going on, he wasn't there. I turned around fully, and I saw that Damon was behind me, a little _too_ close. He had his hands dug inside his pocket, and his eyes met mine. I could see that he was _burning_ inside, the way his eyes led me to his soul. I could feel his emotions radiate off him.

His right hand shot out from his pocket and then brushed my cheek, his eyes never leaving mine. "Elaine," He whispered in a low and husky voice. "Do you trust me?" He asked, and I was caught in shock. I didn't trust anybody, I _couldn't_ trust anybody, and he knew that. But why was he asking me this question when I've just told him that I clearly have some trust issues. My lips parted when I was ready to speak up, but I just couldn't find it in myself to find words in reply. My head automatically just shook gently in a reply of 'no'.

Then his other hand shot up from his pocket and he used both of his hands to hold my face in them. "Well, I need you to." He whispered and then his hands left my face to move to the back of my neck. I could feel his hands grip the lock of the necklace I was wearing. My hand shot up and went to stop his, but then he added, "I need you to trust me, because I'm about to tell you the truth." The hand that lay on his arm to stop him from unclasping the lock of my necklace fell to my side unconsciously. My eyes kept of staring in his blue depths and with one quick movement, the piece of jewelry that clung on my neck met with the cold ground.

His hands left my body and then he backed a couple of steps away and then went to his casual stance of his hands in his pockets. He bowed his head, avoiding my eyes and then requested softly, "Would you promise to answer my questions truthfully?" And I just stared at him. What if he were to trick me into telling him valuable information? He knew that I was a sucker for promises, and what if he was to use it against me. I kept my face blank, and just waited for him to add his additional explanation. "I will tell you the truth as soon as you tell me as _much_ as you know." I didn't give much thought to it, but if it meant getting a step closer to the truth, I'd do anything to figure that out. I nodded my head hesitantly.

He paused for a while before heading to his interrogation. "Would you say that you are superstitious, Elaine?" He asked me seriously, his eyes watching my every movement, as if he was waiting for me to make a wrong move, or _lie_, or something. I nodded my head slowly, and he nodded too in contentment. Then, he added again, "Do you believe in ghosts?"

I shook my head. "Not much." I whispered, and I heard my voice break. I cleared my throat to avoid that from happening again and answered a lot clearly, "I just haven't really come across them, so I don't believe in them _just _yet." He nodded after hearing my answer and then, he began pacing around me, in circles. I kept still. I didn't want to follow him with my eyes anymore. I gripped on the skirt of my dress nervously as I waited for him to continue his questions.

"How about werewolves?" And it just struck me. What if he thought that I was crazy? I mean, the truth _does_ sound crazy at times. But what do I do if he doesn't believe the words that are coming out of my mouth? I just kept my silence. And when he realized that I didn't know how to answer that, he stopped pacing around me. I couldn't hear his footsteps on the grass anymore. I looked up from my bowed state, and saw that he wasn't there, till' I heard his voice come from behind me. I jumped in surprise of his voice. "Don't hesitate in telling me the truth, no matter how crazy it is." He noted to me, and I just nodded.

It took me a few minutes to formulate a believable answer, and that's when it just came to me. "I believe in them more than I believe in ghosts, but like I said, I haven't really come across them too." I took a deep breath in, and exhaled. He continued walking around me, as his footsteps drowned the chirping of the crickets filling the air.

"How about _vampires_?" I froze when he asked this. The way the word rolled off his tongue with such emphasis? It sent chills down my spine, even though he didn't meant it to sound so… _spine tingling_. My hands balled into fists at my sides as they gripped the cloth. Should I tell him that I believe in vampires as much as I believe in the power of blackmailing? What if he would think that I was _insane_? I didn't want to lose someone just because of my imagination? Do I believe in it anyway? I felt my breathing become shallow as I began thinking of some way I could cover this up, so I just simply said, "No."

But it surprised me to see Damon shaking his head from left to right. He clicked his tongue, _tsk, tsk, tsk_. "Don't lie to me, Elaine. You swore that you'd tell the truth." He whispered to me, and that just made me freeze again. How did he know that I was lying? I looked at him and his cerulean eyes to search for anything suspicious in them, but there wasn't any. They were _blank._ So, I just surrendered.

"But if I say yes, would you even believe me?" I shot back, a little too rudely. The blankness in his eyes disappeared, and they widened at my answer. His eyebrows arched up, and his eyes narrowed at me afterwards. He moved quickly behind me, and I was still frozen in my position. I felt one of his cold fingertips trace patterns on my bare shoulders. He clicked his tongue again.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You are in _no_ position to be answering me back right now." He said with hostility as I felt his breath on my skin. I drew away from him before things begin getting out of hand. I turned to face him and my eyes narrowed at him in return.

"And you, Damon, are in _no_ position to be forcing me out of the truth like this." My tongue could be as sharp as daggers if they were needed to be. I could already feel my lips curl into a snarl. He narrowed his eyes at me, and I turned around to run back to the ballroom. Pushy much? I don't really care anymore. Whatever he's done this night, I'd disregard it all. You know what? I don't even _know_ a Damon Salvatore, and I'm pretty sure I haven't met him. I was about to run, when I almost collided with him.

He placed his arms on my shoulders to keep me in place, and even though how hard I pushed. I looked into his eyes and glared into them, when I suddenly felt my brain being pulled out from my skull. My mind went blank.

"You will not remember that we had an argument." He said, and I repeated after him. "You will tell me the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." He added and I just nodded to him. He broke his gaze on mine and reality finally hit me. I flinched and then I looked at him. What happened? The last thing I remembered was that I was being pulled to the patio. I didn't even remember that we already got here. It was as if there were holes in my memories. I stared at him confusedly and asked, "Um, sorry. What was your question again?"

A small smirk pulled up to his lips and he asked. "Do you believe in vampires?"

I nodded to him and I bit my lip. I didn't know how to answer that question, but there was this part in me that felt like I've already answered it. Avoiding any more misunderstanding between us, I answered immediately. "You may think I'm crazy, but apparently, I do." I whispered to him. "I've done a little research on it, and it was actually accidental. My discovery of vampires? I've done it when I didn't even mean to do it."

"Tell me, what happened?" His eyes grew wide in interest and I took a deep breath as I prepared for my explanation.

"I was born here, in Mystic Falls, but I move away when I was 12. Having my summer vacation here, I actually searched this town on the internet, to see what it has to say. I've opened a couple of pages on Google, but there was this _one page_ that curiosity got the best of me. It was a page of folklore and legends about supernatural creatures, and Mystic Falls was linked to it, so I opened the page. I thought it was just a page that an imaginative person created, but when I read it, it sought to be truly realistic." I paused for a while as I observed how Damon began pacing back and forth, his hands crossed on his chest. It seemed like Déjà vu to me again. I shook those thoughts out of my head and just continued.

"It stated that vampires used to run in Mystic Falls in secret, and that they used animal attacks to cover up for their feedings. I didn't believe it at first, till' I looked more up into it. The most famous event that happened back then, was the burning of Fell's Church in 1864, where it was stated that there were 27 vampires in it. It was hard to believe, so I provided more background for the information I figured out." I paused and I noticed that Damon seems to have been watching me. His eyes were observing my movements. My eyes glanced up to meet his when I said the sentence that follows, cause' he sure did react when I mentioned this fact. "So I decided to go to Duke to find out more."

"How did you know about Duke?" He asked me as he kept on pacing.

"I searched online for the nearest place in Tennessee to offer me additional information on folklore, and then I discovered Duke." He nodded and mouthed, _go on_. I rolled my eyes and continued, "So I met this girl there who took charge of the office. Her name was Vanessa." Damon flinched at the name I mentioned. Perhaps he had known her. I disregarded my question for a while and then proceeded. "I introduced myself to her, but she still seems awestruck with me, and I didn't know why." I saw Damon narrow his eyes in suspicion, but I just continued. "She told me everything I had to know about vampires in Mystic Falls. She told me about the council of the founding families, the so-called _Vampire Hunters_. She also told me about _all_ the founding families who still had descendants in Mystic Falls up till' today. The Fell's, the Forbes', the Gilbert's, the Lockwood's and of course," I paused and then stared up at him. "The Salvatore's."

"But what really shocked me," I added as I placed my arms across my chest and casually began pacing with Damon too. We looked like two predators fighting for food, circling around the dead carcass of a meal. A smirk crossed my face, "She also mentioned that vampires still existed until now, and they were scattered _all over the globe_. I managed to go back to Tennessee with a huge smile on my face, contented on the information I've just found out." I bent down to the area where my necklace fell and picked it up. I played with it with my fingers, and I smirked.

"Now, I believe it's my turn to ask questions, Mr. Salvatore." I whispered to him coyly as I twirled the necklace in my fingers. I stifled a small laugh and then looked at him with playful eyes. "Where the hell are they, Damon? Who are the vampires?" I asked him curiously as my voice almost sang them out. Damon had eyes that looked as if they were planning something. I closed my eyes and just giggled, but when I opened my eyes he was no longer in front of me.

"You are in no position to question me like that, Ms. Gilbert." He said from behind me. His lips were almost touching the skin of my neck, he was so close. His fingers traced a line from my shoulders, to the base of my throat, then to the side of my neck. I heard him laugh a low and sinister chuckle. "You shouldn't have asked me that when your artery is this close to my teeth." And that made me froze, and I think he just felt my sudden movement.

Oh no, too much words, too little pride to handle what might happen next. I can't believe it. I have been so _stupid_ and _unaware_ of the facts. The necklace in my hands instantly dropped when my fists unclenched. My whole body stiffened when I felt his breath on my neck. I've never imagined meeting a vampire, and I've always told myself to have composure when I do. But having this happen to me now with someone I met tonight and offered a song to, you know you would just be straight off _overwhelmed_.

He tossed my hair to the other side of my neck to _further_ expose the skin on it. "I could already smell your fear, Ms. Gilbert." He said and I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Was I supposed to run, to scream, to panic, sock him in the face? I know that none of that would work. We were in the middle of nowhere, and I knew that I'd die even before I get to do one of those things. I felt him laugh against my neck.

"And as for your question, about the vampires? Well," He paused and then grazed my earlobe to whisper something. I could seriously feel goose bumps rising on my skin and my spine tingling. I could barely swallow, and my breathing became erratic. I was _definitely_ afraid. "You've already got one of them about to snack on your neck." And I just heard myself whimper.

I shut my eyes tightly as his lips moved from my ear to my throat, only to have waited for a soft kiss on the neck from Mr. Damon Salvatore, the vampire I've been waiting for.


	20. Chapter 19: Damon's Game

**Chapter 19**: Damon's Game

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE*****

_I am _**SO**_ sorry guys for this really late post. Do you know what I have gone through in the last couple of months? There were many brutalities in school, especially when it came to friends and to my grades. Then my _teachers?_ They weren't even making it any better, they keep giving hard pop quizzes and etcetera. Then, there's my _LOVE LIFE_ which isn't working as I planned it. I got my heart broken once and I got totally bitter, for a few days. But then, I began talking to the guy again, cause' I was still in love with him. Then, of course, I wanted to kill him and stab a stake right through his cold heart for going out with my so-called 'sibling/friend'. Go to Hell, Mark. _|| _Well, whatever. I'm posting this now, and the present is all that's important._

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**Elaine's POV**

I remained my state of speechlessness and motionless. Damon Salvatore was a _vampire_? How could I have missed that fact? He was supernaturally gorgeous, his wound healed quickly, there was the secret Stefan and Elena were hiding from me, he was eager to ask me if I was superstitious. If you were to compile all of this information and put them together like a puzzle, it really did come out as vampire.

My eyes remained closed, because I knew I couldn't handle the fact that my eyes may meet with Damon, and he was a vampire. I have waited for him for over 3 weeks now, and he's finally here. I'm not sure how I'd take this information, all I'm sure is that I don't think it's a good idea to talk back to him.

I felt a gentle gust of wind brush against my cheek, and then something more solid came in contact with it. Fingers. I balled my hands into fists and closed my eyes tighter. _What am I gonna do?_ It really is true, what they say? _'Be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it'_, and I think I just got my wish.

"Open your eyes, Elaine." The order came from Damon, and his husky voice filled my ears. At first, I refused to comply with his words. I bit my lips, and became as stiff as a statue, but then I heard the continuation of his words, "Open them for you might not know what would happen to you at this state." And if that weren't a threat, then my eyes would've remained shut.

They opened immediately and adjusted to the darkness as my eyes met a pair of icy blue ones, just staring deep into my soul. I was confused. I didn't know what I should do. He was a vampire who could easily kill me right now without even a second thought. It was my death I was facing at the moment. He was the man I have recently met, who happens to be my cousin's boyfriend's older brother. If that was the case, then that must mean that Stefan was a vampire to, and that Elena might be in on the whole secret.

Who else could have been vampires? Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy, Matt, Aunt Jenna? Who's to say that they're not _all_ vampires? Am I living in a vampire town? Why would Elena keep such a secret from me?

And that's when my thoughts were interrupted by Damon closing in on me even more. Our lips were inches apart, and his eyes were directly on me. I could feel my own blood pumping through my veins. I could hear my own heart beating in my chest, and even my ragged breathing. If I could hear that, I'm pretty sure he could hear it as well, only in a more amplified and magnified version. His eyes travelled from my eyes, to my cheeks, to my lips and then finally, they went down to the base of my throat.

He closed in on me more, but instead of my lips or my neck, he grazed my earlobe with his teeth and whispered something in my ear. "Are you afraid?" He said it in such a cool, calm, collected and concerned voice that I couldn't even build myself up to say what I was _supposed_ to say, nor my mind could send the message to my head to at least nod. My eyes were struck open with a thousand yard stare. We didn't move.

I saw his jaw clench when I didn't answer, and I knew I should have because he was this close to my neck. Provoking a vampire would be the worst thing you could ever do at this scenario, but when he whispered again, almost everything in my body shut down. "Please. Don't be afraid." And that's when my entire body burst into flames. I dedication in his voice, even though I knew that I was frozen, it made me speak, "I'm not."

I withdrew myself from him, and took a few steps back to analyze his disposition. He had his eyes covered, his head was slightly bowed, his shoulders were stiff, his hands were inside his pockets, and his stance was weirdly straight. I stared at him with my eyes wide open and then managed to speak for a while, "Who else?"

His head shot up and he stared at me with narrowed eyes. I repeated my question with my frozen clenched teeth. "Who else? I know you're not alone." I added, and it may have sounded rude and it was a real risk to be saying that to a vampire. I just took one of the most stupid risks in my entire life, and when his eyes widened and his lips pulled up into a snarl, it was when I began silently praying.

But his emotions died down and the wind was back to its natural swish. "Stefan."

_I could've guessed it. _I blinked once, clenched my fists and I began slowly chewing on the inside of my cheeks. This time, I automatically felt my arm cross on my chest. My eyes rolled and when they finally settled, they pierced through Damon's face so sharp that he'd melt. "Is Elena a _bloodsucker_ like you, too?" And _this_ I didn't expect.

In one quick move, I felt my bareback come in contact with the moist leaves of the tall hedges and something cold constricting my throat _tight_. It was still dark and only the light of an orange bulb on a nearby lamppost lit the night. I could feel someone breathing right on my cheeks and in automatic shock, my eyes shut close in surprise. When I opened them slowly, I saw icy, pale blue eyes that were so menacing. It made me actually feel my heartbeat race inside my chest. For once, I was actually _frightened._

I couldn't breathe. Damon was holding on my neck tight enough that it felt like I was only breathing through a hole as small as the hole of a needle. His eyes were filled with so much indescribable rage and he was fuming to the bone that I actually saw his eyes transform. The whites of his eyes turned into bright burgundy within a second, and dark veins began surrounding his eyes. He was becoming my nightmare.

"Damon! **Let me go!**" I screamed at him as I tried banging my fists on his chest hard enough for him to get off me, but what was I trying to do? He was a vampire! What would pushing him away do? I was doomed.

"You're **NOT** in the position to be saying **ANYTHING** to upset me!" Damon growled just right next to my earlobe. I could even feel his teeth grazing my ear. I felt like fainting at the moment. I was already choking. I imagined my death going far so better than having some vampire take my life, and maybe I just had to believe it.

I placed my hands on his hands constricting around my neck and tried prying them away from me. But they we're only getting tighter and tighter. I could feel everything turn pitch black. My vision's starting to haze. And I just knew that I could fight him no more. I knew I never cried, and I only cry during drastic situations, but it seems like I feel my cheeks get wet when a small tear jerked from my eye. I was crying.

But then I felt something brush across my cheeks. Then, the small tear that jerked from my now flooded eyes, were swept away by something wet that brushed them off. It was his tongue. _I can't believe that he actually still had it in himself to do that_! I was angry, fuming, filled with rage, furious, but I still couldn't budge under his grasp so I just decided to save my energy for something that might happen afterwards. I just closed my eyes shut and just waited for things to happen.

And I began to breathe freely again. His hands that constricted around my neck were slowly loosening their grip on me, although they were still clamped there. Then I also felt his weight shift away from me, so that his body wasn't pressing against mine _hard_, but was still guarding me for any other further actions. I didn't want to open my eyes. I could do nothing else to prepare myself for the nightmare that's about to haunt me for the rest of my life, cause I've never really thought that wishing for something and watching it happen before your eyes was really something that I should never do **again**. I've never been so frightened in my life.

I could think of so many ways to escape from him, but I know that I wouldn't get that far before he gets me. I could run all the way, but I know he could smell me, hear me, and _feel me_ that it was of no use. Then I also know that I could use a couple of things nature has equipped me in this setting, like a branch or something sharp, that I could stab it straight through his abdomen, then eventually make a run for it. But he's fast. He knows how to avoid things like that. And, even if I do get out of this situation tonight, and out of this party, there's nothing else to protect me from the happening in the night, or even in the morning. I will be forever trapped in his crosshairs. I was losing hope.

I was breathing so loudly that I could no longer hear anything else except for my incisive breathing. It drowned out the sounds of the creatures of the night, the animals, the insects, the hush whispers of the party. I could only hear myself. And having my eyes closed wouldn't help with anything either. I don't know what to do. But then, I felt his lips then moved to my cheekbone, just a couple of inches near my ear and then whispered something in a voice so low that I could hardly make up the words that he said.

"You may not have known me for as long as _Elena_ has known me," He paused and gave a deep breath. One of his hands that were loosely clamped on my throat moved out to twirl a lock of my hair and eventually, ball them up in his hands and pulled on them. I felt the sting in my scalp and I let out a small yelp when he caught me off guard. He was pulling on my hair so hard that my head tilted all the way up. _And I just knew that he enjoyed the view_.

I heard him let out a low chuckle before dragging his lips down from my ear, down to my jaw line, and on to the base of my throat. "But you definitely _would not_ want to make me upset." He continued. Then he let go of my hair, and in one quick millisecond, my hands shot up above my head and he pinned them so hard on the hedges that I felt some thorns puncture my wrists, my fingers and my palms. And this time, I couldn't stand it anymore. I shot my eyes open and tried kicking against him. But the ball gown was heavier than I thought it would be and it had no use.

It was darker now. The orange bulb was turned off and only the light of the full moon and the stars spread out in the sky lit my vision. I couldn't see his face, but I knew his was looking right at me. I was not crying anymore. I was not angry anymore. I was not frightened anymore. I was just straight out frustrated. "Get. Off. Me. **Now**." I spat of words like knives. I was still breathing raggedly. I expected more thrashing and foreplay from him, but eventually, he let my hands go and stepped away from me.

I was wondering why he'd do that, but I guess I should take my chances before he catches up to me. But before I could even make any sudden movements, he spoke. "I'm getting tired of this. We both know you won't win this round, and it's kinda getting _boring_." He said in a slur of words. _Oh yeah, well then, if you we're bored, why don't you just let me pass through and forget that any of this happened, alright?_ I thought to myself mentally as I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

"You see, I _love_ games. And I know that you _wanna _play games too." Oh no. This is not going as I've planned. My forehead creased in worry, and I couldn't wait for him to run away from this scene. "I'll give you a 30-second head start to find your way back to the patio, and then to the ballroom. If you win, and you get there on time, I will no longer touch, harm or have any conversation with you throughout your _whole_ stay in Mystic Falls." And that sounded negotiable.

"But if _I_ win," And this is what I didn't want to hear. "I get to choose what _we_ get to do." I couldn't see his face, but I know that he was amused on what was about to happen. I didn't let him finish his terms. I just decided to go with my gut. It was pitch dark and the ground was covered in uneven soil. I didn't know what else I could do but sprint, so I removed my heels and made a run for it.

But I forgot that we were in a maze, and it was quite difficult to navigate through this darkness. And regardless of the shrubs and their branches with thorns, I still tried to make my way out of this situation. I had a small scratch every now and then, and I could even hear my dress tear in some ways, but I just wanted to get out of here. It almost seemed like 10 minutes had passed, and Damon still wasn't looking for me. Maybe I had a chance after all, till' I heard his voice echo in the dark.

"I'll give you 5 more seconds!" He screamed and I heard the bats fly over the trees. And then, he began counting backwards from five, and I know I had to pass on more distance. "Five! Four! Three… Two…" And he paused. My heart was racing, and I felt like I would topple on my own feet because of exhaustion. But I still went forward. I made a couple of lefts and one right, but when I was up for my fourth turn, I bumped into something. I literally almost fell down on my butt, but I didn't. Cause someone held on to my wrists, and prevented my fall. I still couldn't see a thing, but I knew that _he_ was smiling.

"Wrong turn." I could feel him smirk and chuckle right in front of me. I turned on the balls of my feet and made another run for it. This maze was confusing and I don't really care what's going to be happening in this part of my life now. I knew it was going to end. And it was going to end now. But I shouldn't be losing hope. There's a crowd inside that ballroom, and when I get there, I could cause a scene. All I had to do was find the light.

But it wasn't as easy to find my way in the dark. I bumped into something hard again, and this time, he whispered, "Two strikes. One more strike, and you're… _not out_." He mocked me with his words. And I knew that I had one last chance to get out of this maze _alive_.

I ran and I ran, and finally, I saw the breathtaking lights of the patio. I could hear the sloshing of the water in the fountain. I could hear the music in the ballroom, and the crowds inside having a good time. I never imagined that it would come to this, but finally… _I won Damon's game_. I was a couple of feet there, but it seems I spoke too soon.

I ran, but something dark went in my way and it enveloped me in its tight grasp. Oh no. Please, let it not be Damon. Please, let it be anyone but Damon. And then I felt something puncture my neck. I couldn't believe Damon would go below the belt.

I tried pushing him away from me, and prying his fangs away from my neck, but I couldn't. I tried grabbing for anything I could, but I couldn't hold on for anything. I screamed out in pain. It was a long, terrible, pain-filled scream that rang through the darkness. All the creatures in the trees ran for cover. I felt my eyes slowly close. I was running out of blood, and I felt myself becoming limp. But before I lost consciousness, I saw something very peculiar.

I saw blood stained lips, and a smile that I know I would never forget in a lifetime. And that's when I realized that the vampire who was about to take my life… wasn't Damon.

Cause he was wearing a black, silk _dress_.

Her laugh ringed in my ears and I knew that somewhere in my mind, I could recall that familiar laugh. Cause' it was my cousin, Elena's, laugh.

And then everything went black.

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*****AUTHOR'S NOTE*****

_I wish you guys would enjoy this. Please leave your comments and your reviews. Please, I'm desperate. __J__ I love your reviews, and I live for them. Hihi! So, I hope you'd love this one. It's a cliffhanger. And, I guess, in the next chapter, there'd be a lot of _explaining_ to do. And maybe, It'd take a lot longer to write. -_- Thanks for reading this!_


	21. Chapter 20: Vantage Point

**Chapter 20: **Vantage Point: Part I

_**Narrator's POV**_

_It takes 20 minutes for a single disaster to happen._

_*Elaine was in a dark maze, playing a dangerous game with Damon._

_*Stefan was trying to comfort the sobbing Elena, when he heard Elaine scream._

_*Katherine has followed Damon and tried to join his game with Elaine._

_It takes 20 minutes for a single disaster to happen. . ._

_It takes 20 minutes for 3 disasters to happen simultaneously to the luckiest people on the face of the planet._

_And this is their _Vantage Point.

* * *

**Stefan's POV**

"Guys, what's going on?" She repeated her question, twice now. Elaine was definitely beginning to know that we're hiding something from her, and I know, that when things like this happen, it always ends bad for us, cause' the one who's always trying to figure it out… Eventually figures it out. I just kept my mouth shut and waited for Elena to call the shots. It's her cousin. And unlike Jeremy, she was definitely on the list of people who _should never_ know about the secret. She's Elena's _twin_, literally, and with Katherine on the loose, Elaine could never be safe again. But some people just don't know how much of a privilege it is to _not_ be in on the secret.

I kept on exchanging glances with Elena, and it looks like she had an unsure expression imprinted across her face. And eventually, I'd have silent conversations with Damon. At this very moment, I couldn't actually identify who would be right, or not. Should we keep the secret from Elaine? Should we tell her the truth, and hopefully, she'd cooperate with our plans? But both ideas seem difficult and dangerous to go on with. This is really something to think about.

But before I could let out any words to defend the situation to buy us more time to converse about this topic, Elena nodded her head and Damon took Elaine's hand and began navigating her in the crowds. Before she was out of earshot, I managed to hear her last words, "What's going on, Damon?" She was definitely determined to know what we're up to. And something tells me that she won't stop till' she finds out.

When Elaine and Damon eventually disappeared through the crowds, I looked at Elena and waited for her to shift her gaze to me and ask what her plan is. "Why did you let him tell her?" I asked her, and Elena seemed nervous at the moment. I could feel her heart beat much faster as it was a while ago, before any of this happened. Then, I saw a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her face. She was definitely unsure of her move, and what she should answer to me, but I waited patiently for her. And then, she finally spoke.

"I don't know." She answered me as her voice cracked in pressure. "I don't know, okay, Stefan? I just… I just don't want her in any of this. I want her safe, just like Jenna, but…" She paused as she placed one of her hands on her forehead. Her eyes were beginning to flood with tears. And that's when she just began sobbing. "Can't we just face the facts? Elaine is in trouble and it's because of me. I shouldn't have let her visit here. I-I-I…" And just right before I could feel that she has some troubles breathing, I just gathered her in my arms in one warm hug.

This has been like that time when Katherine went after for Jenna. She was so devastated after that. I remembered the tears that flooded the Salvatore Boarding house that night. There was so much pain as if it felt like a hundred years of misery. I couldn't even bear to look at her eyes, cause' I know how pain transfers to us both.

It almost felt like 10 minutes had passed, and her sobbing were beginning to disappear slowly. All I could hear from her now was her nose sniffling, her soft breathing, and of course, the slow beats of her heart. Her head was still dug on my chest, and it also felt like we were standing there for a century now. The music was still on its slow jam, and everyone was talking with each other. I was just here for Elena, and yet still, I was thinking of a way to make things all right.

After I heard Elena finally silent, I place a finger on her chin and tilted her head up to meet my eyes. Her eyes were still a little red from all the sobbing, but her cheeks finally dried from all the tears. It was heartbreaking to watch, but I still forced a small smile on my lips to cheer her up. "Hey, we can get through this." I whispered to her quietly, and she still stared at me with her big eyes that were just so adorable that it made my faux smile finally turn into a real one. I even let out a small chuckle and then muttered something to her.

"We'll do it together. You have my word." I gave her my genuine smile and leaned down to give her a soft kiss. When I opened my eyes to stare back at her, she still had her eyes closed from the kiss. It took her 3 or 4 more seconds before she opened them, and battered her eyelashes. And then, she gave me a huge smile, wrapped her hands around my neck and pulled me in for another kiss.

"Together." She whispered to me, repeating my words to her. And after that, we began swaying to the beat and rhythm of the music. And we were not tight or stiff with our movements. For once, this night, we've been _relaxed_ and comfortable. We were able to dance like we were on clouds and that the stars shone bright for us. Finally, for once, we didn't give a damn. We forgot about the world for a split second, and just enjoyed the night. But that's when I heard something.

It was surely something quite frightening, and so unheard of. _Literally_. It was so unheard of, because I may be the only person in this room to hear it. It was distant, and it almost seemed like a whisper to my ears, or my conscience muttering something to me at the back of my mind. What I heard was a light, _blood-curdling scream_, coming from far away. And that made me remember something.

My body became stiff again. Our dream dancing was over. Everything was not alright, and it was finally the time to care. I remembered what was happening, and what we were supposed to be dealing with. Elaine was grabbed by Damon to may be one of the most _unthinkable_ places in this venue, and with Damon's short temper, who knows what could be happening now.

My eyes widened all the way when I realized this, and I couldn't move. I was just full on _shocked_. I was just staring into space, and then thinking of the next thing that I was supposed to do. I almost couldn't even feel that Elena was shaking me as hard as she could, and almost screaming my name as loud as she could. "Stefan. Stefan? _Stefan_!" And on her third call, I was finally able to snap out of it. I looked at her and she had the same mirroring expression I knew I had. She was bewildered. "Stefan, what's going on?"

"We have to do something." I muttered under my breath, and I wasn't even sure if she had heard what I said. I just began navigating through the crowd with long strides, cause' I knew that I had to get to Elaine _now_. I reached the door to the darkened hallways, but when I was just about to launch myself to the patio, I heard Elena still calling my name in the crowds. "Stefan! Stefan!"

I would've tried to find Elaine now, but I knew Elena wanted an answer from me, so I decided to pause and just let her explain, although I knew that my mind wasn't focused enough to maybe even say the slightest words to her. I was panicking.

"Stefan, what's going on?" She repeated her question to me. I didn't make any eye contact with her, because I was so uneasy. I just decided to explain it as fast as I possibly could.

"I heard Elaine." I finally said, and she still looked at me with a confused face. Her forehead crumpled, and she just asked more questions.

"What?" She stuttered. "What did you hear?"

And before I could even answer that question, we both heard the ringing of her spine tingling scream of terror. It rang through the darkness and echoed through the night. It was all too distant from the sound of it, because it sounded quite soft. But with my magnified senses, I could hear it as if she was just screaming at my ear.

After her long howls of pain, Elena and I need no more to speak with each other. We just exchanged glances and just ran as fast as we could to the patio.

When we got to the patio, I smelled something. It smelled… _Delicious_. It was mouthwatering in some other, twisted kind of way. And in my definition, a _vampire's_ definition, the only thing that could be as mouthwatering as that scent was the smell of a human's blood, freshly cut from an open wound on their body. And that made me just want to find Damon the more. I gritted my teeth and had wanted a plan to just pop in my head, but I needed to make sure of Elena's safety first. I can't have two people, which were supposed to be kept alive, in danger. So I turned around, faced Elena, and placed my hands on her shoulders.

"Elena, I need you to get back to the ballroom, find Bonnie, and try to be safe." I asked her kindly, although I knew that this would be quite a fight between us. I already knew that she wouldn't take 'going-back-to-the-ballroom' as an answer. So shook her head and then fought back.

"No. I'm going to help you find Elaine. She's my cousin, and I think it'd be easier for us to find her if we split up." She offered her plans, but they just weren't… _concrete_ enough. So I had to turn them down.

"Please, Elena," I then tried begging. "I can't risk your safety too." I plead with her. It took maybe a couple of seconds, 45 or so, before she could make her decision, and finally comply with my ideas. She bit her lip, straightened her back and then nodded her head briskly.

"Fine. I'm going to find Bonnie, and tell her the whole thing." She replied to me back. "But if you do _not_ come back here, safe, with Elaine, and supposedly, Damon too…" She paused and then crossed her arms on her chest. And it's never good when she does that. "I will come there, through the patio, and travel even to the darkest areas of that place _until_ I find the three of you. I would go _unguarded_ or not." And when she said that, my head fell and I looked at the ground. This would not be a very good idea, but I was in a hurry, so I had to decide as soon as I could, and I just nodded.

I gave her a small smirk and then placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'll come back." I whispered after my lips touched her head. Then I looked deep into her eyes and then added, "I promise." She gave me a hug, and then I launched myself at vampire speed to the darkest regions of the garden. It may take a long time to locate her. It was a maze, and it was dark because none of the patio lights were on. But having magnified eyesight could do me well too.

I continued to run and take a couple of turns. And it already seemed like 2 minutes had passed when I saw a black figure come in my way. It was in the dark, but the moon's light just flowed in front of it. It would only take two steps before I could finally see whoever it is. I wasn't even sure if it was Damon or not, so I decided to ask it who it was. But, _she_ beat me to it.

"Hi Stefan, how I've missed you." Katherine greeted in her most familiar voice as she stepped into the light. I saw her cat like eyes and her wide Cheshire cat smile that just whispered to me _'I did it'_. But I didn't need to be to be a genius to figure out if she was the culprit or not. But it was because her lips were stained with blood.

* * *

**Katherine's POV**

_Before The Attack_

"Get. Off. Me. **Now**." I watched the scene going on through the hedges. Elaine spat out the words to Damon like they were fire. She was struggling under Damon's grasp, and I had to admit it, I was a little turned on with watching this. Damon had his body pressed tight against hers, and I could feel her pheromone levels rising up. _Her resistance was turning me on_.But on that note, Damon suddenly stepped back and _released_ her.

That wasn't much of a Damon-like doing. But I know Damon well enough to think that _this wasn't over_.

And I was right.

A huge smirk crept to his face and his eyes smiled like there was no tomorrow. He crossed his arms on his chest and watched Elaine's every movement. Apparently, her back was still glued to the hedges, and she had this bewildered expression on her face, which I was thinking may be stuck permanent there for as long as she knew Damon. Her hands were clawed to the thorn-infested hedges and she was trying to get as far away from Damon as she can. But everyone knows that that isn't as far as we all should expect.

"I'm getting tired of this." Damon muttered under his breath, as he fully accentuated the words with his eyes. Oh, I know that he was going to say that. I knew that Damon gets bored easily, and he'd try everything in his power to make things seem… _interesting_. "We both know you won't win this round, and it's kinda getting _boring_." He added.

Elaine wasn't impressed by his words and she just rolled her eyes in a complete 360° circle. I see that she couldn't be as smart as I thought she was. If she were smart, she would know that things weren't going to go as well as she thought they would. She didn't even know what Damon was capable of doing, if he pleases to do so.

"You see, I _love_ games." And he sure does. He got that distinctive personality from all the games we played _long_ ago. I remembered every single game we managed to play in 1864, and it made me smile at that thought. I loved it how the Salvatore brothers _fell_ for me. I should forget these things before I began losing my focus. I shook the thoughts out of my head and continued listening. "And I know that you _wanna_ play games too." He said coyly, as he began pacing to his left and to his right, over and over again, although his eyes were staring straight at Elaine's beady eyes.

"I'll give you a 30-second head start to find your way back to the patio, and then to the ballroom." Oh, a predator's game. Me _likey_. It seems like I wanna join this round. And maybe, I'd even have enough time to get my _revenge _with Damon. It'll be fun, playing games with him _again_. And then, Damon began explaining the terms of his game. "If you win, and get there on time, I will no longer touch, harm or have any conversation with you throughout your _whole_ stay in Mystic Falls." And, to know Damon _that_ well, we all should expect him going back on his word.

"But if _I_ win," And this might be the beauty of his terms. They seem dangerous, kinky, and… _Demonic_. "I get to choose what _we_ get to do." And like his usual moves, he does not state clearly what he wants, because he wants _everything_ you can't, and _can_ give him. Damon still had the devilish smirk printed on his lips when he finished explaining the rules. Immediately, Elaine removed her shoes and made a run for it and hadn't even counted to one yet. And when I saw her hit a couple of hedges with her hands raised in front of her, I knew that she couldn't see a _thing_ in the dark, which gave me my advantage. Damon and Elaine have _no_ idea that they have a new _competitor_ in this game.

I followed Elaine with my eyes, through the maze, making a couple of turns, and when needed, I would even take a couple of steps and follow her wherever she was going. It seems like she was lost, and she had _no_ idea, whatsoever, where she was going to go. It amused me a little bit, to see something so weak, and pathetic, that it just makes me want to put it out of its misery. Especially whenever the scent of her blood, dripping on her palms whenever she'd hit a thorn on one of the hedges. It just makes me want to show myself, and just… _Kill_ her already.

"I'll give you five for seconds!" Damon said over the dark, although he was just following her, walking right behind her, seeing where she was going, but he did have a talent of making things appear as they weren't, like an _optical illusion_. He was messing with her hearing, and I could see that he was very amused with himself as well. _Damon has learned a lot from me from the past 145 years, _I thought quietly as I continued observing them. _Maybe he's learned _too_ much_.

"Five! Four! Three… Two…" And then he paused. He didn't speak, and his presence was unknown to Elaine as she kept on running, launching herself with long strides. And when she made a couple of wrong turns, I continued to see that Damon wanted to tease her with her mistakes. He stood right in front of her so that she would bump into him. The impact was so great, but Damon caught fast on Elaine's wrists and held her upright. He leaned his head a little closer to Elaine's face whereas their faces were just inches from each other as Damon whispered, "Wrong turn."

He smirked and chuckled right at her face, and Elaine was still blind. She didn't know how he looked like, or where he was at that moment, but she certainly knew that he was mocking her, so she turned on the balls of her feet and made another run for it. This time, she tried making another route, going on different ways, while Damon was still tailing her. She still made all the wrong turns, and Damon did the same thing he did with her a while ago. He went in front of her and then made her crash onto him, but this time, he said another set of different words.

"Two strikes." He whispered as he made a face mocking the expression of pure fear in Elaine's face. "One more strike, and you're…" He paused for a moment and then his smirk widened a little more. "_Not out_." It seemed pretty cliché that he'd use another play of words. I wish I could've told him that they were never funny from the beginning, but there's no stopping this now. And after Damon's taunts, Elaine made her last chance at getting out of this chase alive.

She ran, and she ran, and from watching where she was going, I could see that she was almost near the patio, even though I know that she couldn't feel it yet. I couldn't let her out of my grasp. And that's when I began tailing Damon, who was following Elaine. I leaned in close to Damon's ear without him feeling it, and then whispered something _so low_ that I could bet a thousand years of my life that she wouldn't be _able_ to hear it. "Hello, Damon." And as soon as I said my greeting, I injected a syringe full of vervain I grabbed earlier this night when I went out looking for my ring that _Damon _threw out in the night. I stuck it into Damon's neck and then watched the vulnerability take its magic.

Damon couldn't let out another word. I watched him lose his consciousness under my grasp, and then drag him out back to the farthest region in this patio, that even _he_ would have a hard time looking for a way to get out of there. I dropped him off in a darkened corner and then whispered, "Goodbye, Damon." to his ear before I stood up and went back to doing as I've planned with Elaine. I did it in super fast vampire speed, so that I wouldn't be able to lose Elaine when I come back, cause' I know that I wouldn't have another chance for revenge again when every single one of them go on with protecting her. This was my only chance, so I followed her.

That was the moment she was at the patio already. She was still absorbing the view. Her wide eyes scanned the area that was well lit, after moments of staying in the darkness. And she was ready. She was ready to step into that light.

_Not if I had anything to do about it._

I immediately grabbed Elaine's neck, and wrapped my arms around her. And in one swift motion, I dug my fangs into her skin. I've never tasted something so _mouthwatering_, _delicious_, _sweet_ in my stay here in this place, and it seemed like _Elaine_ was lucky enough to find me. But as I tore open her throat, she let out a horrible scream. I didn't know that she was a screamer, so I began dragging her out into one of the other farther places in the patio, opposite to Damon, of course, and finished her there.

But I wasn't about to _end_ her right now. I want the people that love her to _watch_ me end her life, and make them feel like they have nothing to do about it, and have no one to blame but themselves. When I was pretty sure that she was unconscious, I smiled at myself, amuse at what I had did. _Revenge never tasted as… sweet_, I thought, and gave a small giggle at my own play of words. (And I wonder where Damon gets his humor from.)

And I heard something that interrupted my joy. Someone had come to the patio. I let out a low scoff and tried to listen in on who it was. But the voice was too lovely, too familiar, for me to not recognize. Of course, it was Stefan, coming to the rescue like the hero he is. He must've heard the bloodcurdling scream Elaine let out. Oh, how I wished I just let her fall unconscious first, before I tasted her.

"I'll come back." She whispered to her most precious _Elena_. I rolled my eyes in total hatred. _Oh, I swear, if I could only kill Elena without having to damage my purpose of her, I would've done _that_ already_, I thought maliciously in my mind. "I promise." Stefan added as he was all mushy gooshy with the new _love-of-his-life_, when apparently, I know the truth that he only began loving Elena because he was _still in love with _Me. But, I wouldn't let this get to me. I tried to flush it out of my mind, and just finish my _real_ purpose first. So when Stefan running, and finding the culprit, and I think that he's thinking that Damon did _this_ one, he better double check his numbers.

He still made a couple of turns, and when I knew that he was just a couple of turns away, I decided to meet him halfway. So I left Elaine, and went out to catch up to him, when we finally came to see each other, _face-to-face_. And he had this _cute little confused_ expression all over his face, and it seems like he doesn't even know who I am. So I decided to give him a clue.

"Hi Stefan, how I've missed you." I whispered. I saw the grave fury in his eyes when he heard my voice. I stepped into the light and let the magic of wrath consume him in his midst.


End file.
